Shadow of the Moon: A Sun Never Sets sequel
by The Grey Wolf Ghost
Summary: The 3rd installment to the Sun Never Sets series: Eclipse from the point of view of the youngest Cullen, Christian. OC. Please read Sun Never Sets and the Moon Never Rises first if you really would like to be able to fully enjoy this fic and understand who the additional characters not from the actual Twilight series are. Final Chapter is up. Please read and Review. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Here we go folks, the Eclipse version of the Sun Never Sets. Eclipse was my favorite of the four books so I hope I did it justice here. Unlike the New Moon version which most of the beginning was written when I uploaded it and just had to tweak the end, for this fic most of the end is completed, from about the training scene with the wolves up until the last part of the battle and beyond. So I will be working diligently to update this as often as I can, but keep in mind the beginning is not 100% complete and will take a little time to be done. So we'll be looking at updates every other week, if I am able to I will update earlier than that. I want to thank trouble97018 and Malehkia for their wonderful title suggestions and I give credit where it's due that they both helped with the title. Thank you everyone for your continued support and acknowledgement of these fics, it really means a lot to me that Chris is so well received in the Twilight community. Till next update! Glad to see you all again!

* * *

I wasn't sure how things would be going back to school at Forks. I had made sure that leaving my Forks friends would be barely missed by them, even Marie. I mean I stayed in touch with them, but it was a pen-pal kind of deal, with the silent understanding that eventually we would all lose track of each other, as we "got older". Going back now, would I have to start over again as far as distancing myself from my friends? I wasn't sure, heck I wasn't sure I would even be able to now, or even want too at this point.

I hate going into a new situation basically blind, but I was both surprised and pleased that it was as if I had never left Forks high school, at least within the small group that made up our English class who all welcomed me back easily. I mean we all had homeroom together so when I walked into the classroom the first Monday we returned to school, there was surprised looks all around.

Marie practically flew out of her desk to hug me, Sarah right behind her. Like I said it was if I had never left, both in the social aspect as well as the academic one.

Within a week of being back, Marie began inviting me over to her house for dinner. I was hesitant about doing so and managed to put it off for a while, a week turning into two weeks. We were loaded down with midterm projects and reports so all of us were occupied with them, leaving no time really for socializing.

But it finally reached the point nearly three weeks later, where I could not make up any more excuses and just had to give in. We made plans for the ninth of April, a Sunday, I was going over to the Burke's for dinner and family game night.

I was really concerned about how dinner at a friend's house would go, I mean it's not like I get invited places on a regular basis. It was easy to pretend that I was eating at school, and of course when Marie, her grandmother, and I had gone out to dinner last year, I had managed to put on a show regarding the dinner.

At Marie's graduation party last June, her father was grilling hotdogs and hamburgers for everyone and still I was able to keep suspicion away from the fact I wasn't really eating. But it would be different with just the Burke family and me. That and this would be the first socializing between Marie and I outside of school since we moved back, we had studied together at the library for some of our projects, but it had been in groups and it had been school work so it didn't count.

Edward had spent the last few weeks kissing up to the entire family individually; he took the opportunity to continue this trend, by offering to drive me to Marie's house.

"So, things are settling back in okay?" Edward asked as we pulled off our driveway. I nodded, glancing out the window, wishing I could actually be four-wheeling instead of going to dinner. Don't get me wrong I was looking forward to hanging out with the Burke family, I just wish there was no dinner involved. "Chris?"

"Sorry," I replied looking at my brother quickly "yeah, things are good. It's like I never left." I paused "how's Bella doing?" this was a serious question, I saw her at school of course, but we never really talked with everyone around us and she hadn't been over our house in a while.

I knew she was grounded, pretty much forever. Chief Swan was really hit hard by Bella's out of the blue escapade to Italy with Alice. Granted who could blame him, I guess one of his best friends died the day before (hence the funeral that Edward thought was Bella's) and then he came home to find Bella gone with just a simple note. I think that would give anyone reason to be angry and of course hurt.

Then if the situation couldn't get any worse for Bella and Chief Swan's already short fuse, that Jacob kid, the werewolf, showed up at the Swan's house wheeling a motorcycle.

Apparently Bella had found two old motorcycles and had enlisted wolf boy to restore them, something about becoming an extreme sports junky (hence the dive off the cliff).

Anyways she must have kept the bikes with Jacob because Chief Swan would've killed her if he saw them and for some reason Jacob felt the need to return Bella's, right when Chief Swan was home.

I haven't been able to decide if Jacob did it on purpose to get Bella in trouble and keep her from hanging out with Edward or if he didn't care one way or another and just did it out of spite. Either option fits in my mind.

I guess he blew another gasket and grounded Bella for an even longer sentence and had made her get rid of the bike.

She did technically get rid of the bike; it was living in our garage, parked right next to my Kawasaki. Bella's bike was kinda sweet in its own way, and I hated to admit it, but Jacob did a decent job of restoring it, better than his crappy old rabbit anyways. It ran pretty smoothly for its age and the condition that Bella said she found it in. I didn't know if Bella would ever have the bike back, but till she decided what to do with it, Jasper and I had taken to enjoying it.

The funny thing about the whole situation (Bella being grounded, not Chief Swan's loss of course) was that if Bella was grounded so was Edward technically. Chief Swan had made a curfew deal with Bella and Edward, Edward was allowed to visit her from seven to nine-thirty and only if Chief Swan was home.

I found it hilarious, Edward and Bella not so much, though they took it in stride. Though I'm not really sure what they were complaining about, it wasn't like they didn't spend pretty much every waking second together anyways, I mean Edward still stayed over Bella's house at night.

"She's doing better, she's a little worried about her classes." My ears perked up "and yes I was going to ask if you could help her out when finals come closer. She won't let me help, but for some reason I don't think she'll refuse you."

"See she does love me." I said grinning wide.

"So a little nervous about dinner tonight?" Edward asked, changing the subject

"Gee, what was your first clue Professor X?" I replied, my tone a little sharper than I meant too.

Edward didn't comment on that, he gave me a hearty smile as if he hadn't heard my tone, I was still trying to figure out this new and more forgiving Edward. I should be thrilled about him, but it's a little weird.

"Marie definitely missed you," he continued "actually everyone missed you, you and Alice, I'm kind of in the doghouse still."

I raised an eyebrow

"Everyone?" I repeated

"I don't just mean your freshman friends, a lot of Bella's friends missed you as well."

"Like who?"

"Angela for one, Ben too,"

"Come off it Edward," I replied as we pulled closer to the Burke's street "they knew me for a few weeks, if that."

"Angela is empathetic if you hadn't noticed."

I nodded slowly; I had certainly profiled that about her. I knew Angela's personality last year when I first saw her, she was my main pick for Marie's senior friend, unfortunately things worked out different and Marie ended up with another one of Bella's friends Jessica Stanley, who is not as attentive, I'm not saying she's an awful person, because from what I've experienced and profiled she's not, she's just a little narcissistic, a lot more in comparison to Angela and Bella, but a lot less than some others who sit at that lunch table.

There's a girl named Lauren who has this aura about her that screams egotistical, If I didn't know any better I'd swear that Lauren and Janet were sisters.

Anyways, Angela is the kind of person who wants to help everyone and be friends with everyone, so she kept Marie close that entire day and continued to do so into our freshman year of high school.

"Right," I answered wondering where he was going with that, it was stating the obvious, at least I thought so.

"Angela saw how much Marie missed you and empathized with that, and Ben followed her lead. You said that Marie joined the school chorus?" I nodded again "that was on the pushing of Angela and your friend, Patrick."

I sighed and grinned, I was going to have to get Angela a big thank you gift, somehow. I really owed her a lot.

"Well I wouldn't call Patrick a friend exactly, he tolerates me." I replied chuckling "he'd never say it out-loud but I can read his body language, in the back of his mind he was hoping I wouldn't come back."

"Yeah those thoughts were pretty loud that first day back. He was obviously ashamed of thinking that, but it didn't change the fact that he took your request to look after Marie above and beyond." I sighed again and Edward looked at me quickly "Chris?"

"We came back." I said softly, Edward could see where the conversation was going, but instead of picking my brain like he usually does, he just let me lead the way. "I made it last year so that if we did leave, my friends." That word felt so foreign as I said it, we have vampire friends, and I've had acquaintances at school, but Marie, Sarah, Paul, and the others, even Patrick they weren't just acquaintances, they were actual friends. "I knew that when the time for us to leave Forks, I would be able to break ties with them slowly. They'd move on with their lives with no problem. And they did, I mean you said Marie missed me, that my other friends missed me. But in reality if we hadn't come back they would've been okay."

"That's certainly true." Edward replied

"Then bam, we come back, it's like we never left and here you are driving me to Marie's for dinner."

"So? What's the problem?"

I'm pretty sure by this point Edward was trying his best to NOT read my mind, I think he just wanted to see where I was going and see it the non-telepathic way.

"I've been thinking about this since we got back, am I doing more damage than good here? Should I have just left well enough alone as far as coming back? It's like I'm going to have to start over again and it'll be that much harder when we leave before next year."

"What makes you think we're leaving before next year?"

"We have to right? I mean you and Alice are graduating, that leaves me as the last one in school. Do you really think we should try me at sophomore year again? Remember how bad that went last time?"

The last time I stayed a school past freshman year had been a while ago. Rosalie, Alice, and Esme tried their hardest to make me look fifteen and it was a disaster, I ended up looking like a little kid trying on his older brother's clothes, with a stunted height and a voice that sounds like a thirteen year old.

No one said anything aloud, but Edward could hear the questions in everyone's thoughts, I could read it on their body language. It didn't fool anyone and we moving shortly after the start of school. I for one never wanted to try it again, at least not until recently.

"I think we should, I think we might be better prepared to try it this time around. It's worth a try Chris, we find a situation to do a test run and see how it goes from there."

He was right of course, I did want to give it another go, now that I was back where I felt the most comfortable I wasn't ready to leave just yet.

I wasn't sure why Edward was the one making this suggestion though, but I figured it was just more of him making up to us, he knew that I wanted approval for my decision to try one more year and he was giving it to me

"Yeah I guess." I said as we pulled into the Burke's half circle driveway. "thanks for the ride."

"What time do you want me to pick you up?" Edward asked grinning, I glanced at my watch, it was quarter of six.

"Dunno I'll call you."

"Be forewarned." Edward said mischievously, his grin getting bigger.

"What?"

"Coach Burke is competitive when it comes to board games and he's ready for new competition and guess whose it, you could be here all night, school night or not."

I groaned and rolled my eyes, as I slammed the door to the Volvo shut as hard as I dared and headed for the house. Edward drove off and I swear I could still hear him laughing as I walked up the steps to ring the doorbell.

* * *

Mrs. Burke spent the entire meal asking if I'd had enough to eat. She had loaded my plate with meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green-beans and it was all I could do to keep a grin on my face instead of a grimace.

I'm 100% sure Mrs. Burke is a fantastic cook, but to me the food was disgusting going down, even sitting on my plate. Even though I took my time eating, pretending to savior every bite, the minute my plate looked even remotely clean, she piled on more food, it really was a no win situation.

Luckily, the entire Burke family liked to talk during dinner, so the focus wasn't on my plate, but on talking to me. Mr. and Mrs. Burke asked me all sorts of questions about LA and how my parents were doing, I wondered if the Burke's were planning on a get together with Carlisle and Esme at some point. I could see Mrs. Burke wanted to have get together with my parents and she was trying to determine the best time to do so.

I answered the questions as best I could and made up most of it especially regarding LA. I've read enough about the city to pass it off that I was there for months, but LA is not a top vacation spot for a vampire, it's barely a good spot to drive through let alone live. The Burke's were none the wiser and it gave me the chance to move stuff around on the plate to make it look like I had eaten more than I actually had.

I was thankful when Mr. Burke pushed his chair back and thanked his wife for a wonderful dinner, before carrying his plate into the kitchen. I watched Marie and when she did the same I followed in suit. Mrs. Burke reached for my plate insisting that as the guest I was not required to clear the table, but I protested and said I would like to help.

Ten minutes later, the table was clear, the dishes were running through the dishwasher, and the Burke family and I were once again seated around the table, a board game waiting for us.

I've never really been a big fan of most board games, to me bored is right, I'll play trivial pursuit and stuff, but games like monopoly fail to hold my interest very long. So when I saw that the game Mr. Burke had planned was a game called the Game of Life, I was prepared to face it.

Just judging by the board however, I could see this game perhaps would go by faster than any monopoly game I've been subjected too; this at least had an end in sight.

"Chris do you want to be the banker?" Mr. Burke asked grinning I shrugged hoping there wasn't anything complicated to being the banker. Taking my shrug as a yes answer, Mr. Burke plopped a plastic container in front of me, with sections dividing each of the different dominations of fake money. "Okay everyone, get your car and person," Mr. Burke continued handing a bag of little people pegs and cars with six notches in it for said people around.

Mrs. Burke took the orange car, Marie the blue, Mr. Burke took white, and I grabbed the green one and watched Marie as she put her little pink peg in the driver seat of the car. She glanced up at me and nodded to the car, I grinned mischievously and put my little blue peg in the driver seat as well, only the driver seat if the peg was in England, IE the right side of the car. Marie saw that and burst out in quick giggles.

"Chris, sweetie when is your birthday?" Mrs. Burke asked as we all put our cars near the spinner and I handed out the correct amount of money.

"December 24th." I replied suspiciously

"So you're two months younger than Marie."

_In theory_ I thought and tried not to grin

"That means you don't get to spin first Ri Ri." Mr. Burke teased; the confused look on my face caught his attention

"Dad!" Marie exclaimed as her dad called her a pet name that she always seemed embarrassed by.

"The youngest spins first to see who plays first." He explained, "Marie has been used to going first all the time. It's a good change for someone new."

I was still confused, but I spun the little spinner carefully, it landed on a six, which I assumed was a good thing, six out of ten. Marie went next landing on a five, her mother a two and her dad a three.

"Looks like you get to go first Chris." Mrs. Burke said "you have to choose college or career."

I chuckled and looked over at Marie who grinned

"If you pick college you get a better career and salary option, but you have to pay money and you'll be in debt for a while. If you choose career you're limited on what you can pick for careers and salaries, but you have the option later in the game to go back to school and get a better career." Marie explained and I rubbed my temple, apparently this game was going to hold my attention for a while, it was actually interesting. I decided to go to college for the heck of it, taking the loan out from the bank.

The game progressed pretty quickly and I had to admit, I had fun with it. When we reached the end and each of us "retired" we sold our properties and counted up our profits.

I ended up with 3.5 million thereabouts, which I thought was pretty good, Marie beat me by about a fifty thousand bucks, her dad he barely made it into the two thousands and was sulking about it, but it was Marie's mum who blew us all away with 5 million dollars. Mr. Burke was convinced that she cheated somehow and made it a huge discussion about it, during which Marie and I packed up the game and put it away, laughing at her parents the entire time. They obviously weren't actually fighting, but it was still like watching a pair of little kids arguing back and forth.

"I'm glad you guys came back, I'm sorry the study didn't work out." Marie said softly as I followed her down to the hall closet where the Burke's kept their games.

"I'm glad we're back too, and the study worked out. My dad's going to video chat his colleagues down there and stay informed on the study and do his best to help from up here. Mum just wasn't happy in LA at all, and to be honest neither was I. It'll mean my dad has to take some short business trips, but if it keeps us here in Forks for a while longer I won't complain."

Marie handed me the game and I reached up to the top shelf to store it there. We exchanged a grin and headed back to the dining room where her parents were still arguing goodheartedly about who really won the game.

"They do this every time; you should see when we play monopoly. You got off easy tonight, they had a game go so long I ended up going to bed four hours after it started, I declared bankruptcy and went to bed. I woke up around midnight, came out to get a glass of milk and they were still going."

I blinked, studying Marie's face to see if she was serious. I mean there's been times when Emmett and Jasper will have a chess game that goes on for hours, but that's a vampire thing, for the Burke's to have a board game go that long is pretty hilarious.

"Was it regular Monopoly?"

"It was actually Lord of the Rings Monopoly. My dad had hotels on the shire only, mom was winning easily owning pretty much the entire board and dad wouldn't give in."

I started laughing and Marie joined me, both her parents looked up at as from their argument and started laughing as well.

"Come on you too, I think there's some chocolate chip ice cream in the fridge, ice cream for all!" Mr. Burke called triumphantly leading the way back into the kitchen. I groaned and hit my forehead, more food…great.

* * *

When Edward came to pick me up an hour or so later, I thanked the Burke's for their hospitality and promised to come again soon. Marie hesitated for a second, but she hugged me tight before darting back inside with her parents. Mr. Burke waved as I slid into the Volvo next to my brother and Edward honked the horn in response.

"So, did you have fun?" Edward asked with a grin, he could read my mind, he had seen the gaming night, the dinner, the argument between Mr. and Mrs. Burke and he was just as amused as I had been.

"It was interesting and amusing." I replied, "I thought Emmett was competitive, Mr. Burke makes Emmett look normal when it comes to competition." I paused "you going back to Bella's tonight?"

"Chief Swan had me out at 9:30 on the dot. After I drop you off I'm heading back over there." Edward replied grinning,

"Did you send Bella's application to the University of Alaska out?" I asked, my grin getting wider.

"As a matter of fact I did, and my own as well." Edward said speeding up a little towards our house.

"I get the hat right when you get accepted?"

"Yeah, yeah, you get the hat and the sweatshirt." He paused "don't you already have UA?"

I thought that over. I've got so many hats and sweatshirts from different colleges and universities I'm not only starting to lose track of them all, but I'm also starting to run out of room for them. Who knew that there were so many schools in the country?

"No, I'm pretty sure that's one of the only ones I don't have. Besides if you get Bella to apply to and be accepted to Dartmouth or even Harvard I can mooch those acceptance hats too." The look on Edward's face told all "you're already planning on applying her there aren't you?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Trying to delay Bella's decision?" I asked my question completely serious this time.

"Of course I am. I'm hoping she at least tries that human experience and enjoys it so much she'll want to hold off even longer."

"You mean besides the human experience of prom, graduation, marriage?" I was still serious; there was no trace of joking around with this part of the conversation.

"Yes, I did give Bella the alternative as far as that last one is concerned."

I took a deep breath

"She really is hopeful that you'll do it after graduation. It's in two months Edward and Bella is pretty stubborn, what are you going to do?" We pulled into the garage and Edward parked the Volvo neatly in between the Mustang and Rose's Beemer. "Edward?" I repeated tilting my head a bit.

"I don't know Chris to be honest, I'll think of something. We'll see how it goes." He paused and hit the brim of my hat. "Tell Esme I'll be home in the morning."

"Always do." I replied as my brother shot off into the woods and I wandered slowly into the house, ready to face my sisters and mother, as they would want to get details about how my first dinner over the Burke's went.


	2. Chapter 2

May eighth

"-With the death toll now nearing five confirmed, while others are still unaccounted for, it is a wonder Seattle's finest have continued to believe these are all random acts of violence. I'm Tina Jones, reporting live from police headquarters for Fox news, Henry and Melissa back to you."

"Ugh, don't put on Fox," I complained as I walked past Jasper who sat on the couch watching the news intently "they're idiots."

"Idiots who seem to be the only news station talking about the murders in Seattle." Jasper countered.

We'd been home in Forks for nearly two months now, things had gotten back to normal, well as normal as they could be in a town unknowingly hosting a family of vampires.

Unfortunately things weren't staying normal; something was going on in Seattle, something that had us all on edge.

At first it was pretty typical, Seattle is after all a city, its murder rates are bound to be higher than other less populated places. Then the disappearances started, in the past two weeks six people ranging from mid teens to mid twenties had gone missing, just vanished.

No one really thought anything of it because according to the news, this wasn't the first time for most of the missing to have vanished for long periods of time. It didn't change the fact it was odd.

The news stations, especially Fox had been looking for a good story and were reporting a connection between the murdered people and the missing ones.

The police however refused to comment on it and refused to give into the media's pushing. I couldn't figure out for the life of me if they just notice something was wrong or just didn't want to admit they were falling behind the media.

Only the local news stations, IE Fox, had been reporting on either subject, none of the national stations felt the need to pick up on the subject. They obviously thought it was just a coincidence.

"It doesn't change the fact that they are idiots." I replied, "they're just motivated ones, sometimes that's even worse."

'What are your thoughts on this whole thing Chris?" Jasper asked as I vaulted over the back of the couch, sitting down next to him.

"My opinion, 'sides the intelligence level of Fox news?"

Jasper chuckled

"Yes beside that."

"I'm not sure what to make of it. I can say this, Seattle is in big trouble, either the media is making a series of mountains out of one ant hill and are going force the cops to start an investigation into something that is just a daily occurrence in a city."

"Or?"

"Or the media isn't making a mistake, they've figured it out and the cops and the city are going to have to scramble when they realize it too. Either way, Seattle is in for a helluv a time."

Jasper nodded, agreeing with my observation, a spike like that in the murder rate was significant, but again Seattle is a city, with hundreds of thousands living there, people were bound to disappear and unfortunately people were bound to be killed, it was just a sad normal statistic.

Once I got to school the talk of murders and disappearances changed to more mundane student based discussion, more specifically the upcoming Freshman Sophomore dance.

I didn't know how I really felt about that event, in fact I was pretty sure I'd rather listen to Fox news add fuel to the fire about Seattle's problems than be sucked into dance discussion.

What made it even worse or at least more difficult was it was not only themed, but it was a Sadie Hawkins thing, y'know the girls ask the guys out; this would be the second time a school did this kind of dance when I was in it. The last time had been in the seventies and it had been ridiculous then.

All morning the dance was all everyone could talk about; Sarah, Jenna, Kelly, and Marie couldn't stop talking about the dance. It was probably the first time I have ever heard one of those four get reprimanded for talking and passing notes. Of course the teachers were lenient on them, who wouldn't be, I mean not one of those four ever get in trouble.

The main topic going around the four girls was who was asking who to the dance. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I mean the girls sit three rows behind me in English, had I been human ignoring them would've been simple, I wouldn't have been able to hear them. But with my superhuman hearing it was hard to ignore them, especially when my name was mentioned.

With me in Marie's group of friends all of us consisting of our English class the previous year there's odd number of girls to guys, four girls and five guys. So one guy was going to be out of the loop and I was really hoping I'd be the odd man out.

It wasn't fair to Paul, Patrick, Steve, or Nick. My plan was to find an excuse to NOT go; I'd go to Carlisle first he could help me come up with a plan, I'd explain my reasoning and just hope that Carlisle and I saw eye to eye. I had two concerns, Edward and Alice. I had to figure out how to make sure Edward didn't blab and make sure Alice didn't see Marie asking me.

It's not that I'm against going to a dance; I've given up avoiding Marie's dating idea at least for the time being. I had her to thank for the friends the actual friends I've made here at Forks so if she asked me to the dance, as much as I hated to dance I would go.

My main issue is next year, the year after, if I gave into going to a dance with Marie, I was clearly messing with the futures of my Forks friends. It was the same issue last year when Marie asked me to go out to dinner and a movie with her and her grandmother, and I had the same concern then; was I doing more damage by giving in.

The girls were debating the same thing basically; they wanted our English class to go to the dance together, all nine of us with everyone paired up.

Oh bloody hell they were going to fix somebody up with one of us guys. I slapped my forehead and tried to focus on Mr. Bertie's lecture, and trust me it was not easy.

By the time lunch rolled around most everything had been settled amongst the girls. I was trying my best not to listen, but I couldn't help it, it was like some magnetic pull that kept beckoning back to the conversation.

Apparently Marie and Sarah were going to talk to this girl in our health class, she's not in our English class, but including health she's in most of my classes, her name is Tisha, no one seems to be sure if that's short for Patricia or something else, she wont admit to anything.

She's new, having started while I was gone. She's quiet like Marie, but given the chance she's outspoken and bubbly and had become pretty good friends with Marie, Sarah, and the rest of our group of friends. Not to mention (and I have no idea how girl gossip really works so I'm not sure how they knew this unless she told them) Tisha fancies Steve.

Anyways, instead of eating lunch with me and our senior friends, Marie joined Sarah, Kelly, and Jenna at a table off to the side, pulling Tisha with them.

No good could come from those girls plotting, but if it kept them away from my brother and possibly away from Alice's predictions I would be happy with it.

I tried to hide my thoughts from Edward as I sat down next to Alice, she looked up at me grinning wide, but it was Edward's smirk that had me concerned.

_You say one word Edward and you will find your Martin and Volvo on eBay for ten dollars and free shipping_. I thought, trying to make my thoughts sound at least a little threatening.

Bella caught my attention she had a pile of books in front of her, her lunch was sitting abandoned and untouched.

"Uh, Bella?" I asked

"Oh, hi Chris," she replied

"Bella do you want some help?" I reached forward and lifted up her calculus book, which she seemed to have pushed furthest from her person. At first Bella shook her head no quickly, but then she sighed, gritted her teeth and nodded yes. "Okay, I don't want you to miss lunch, and since you're still grounded, we can do it after school if you'd like." I added trying not to laugh, as Bella gave me a warning look

"I think Charlie will allow visitation for a tutor." She grumbled and I was really struggling to not laugh. Grumbling or growling in general doesn't suit Bella at all so it's hard to take her serious like that. "Just come over."

I blinked a little not sure how to take that.

"So do you want me to come over after school today?" I asked clarifying what Bella had just mentioned.

She nodded and I gave a half grin.

It was amazing, this time last year I was still nervous around Bella, I never would've felt right accepting an invite to her house, even if I was going over there to help her out with school. And amazing still, even in September, right before the whole birthday party fiasco, if Bella had been struggling in a subject then, I would've offered to help her out at school or even at our house, never at her own home.

I was so much more comfortable around Bella now, she was without a doubt a part of the family and I was no longer nervous around her nor did I particularly care if Edward had an opinion on the subject or not.

That was also a huge leap from last year, I was always looking to Edward for his approval or permission when anything concerned Bella, not anymore.

"Yes, Chris that's what I'm saying,"

"I can help you with history too." Now Bella shot another look only it was at Edward this time. My brother shrugged and gestured at me. "He mentioned you were a little worried about finals, he didn't mention the subjects. I guessed." I added, sticking my tongue out at Edward for shoving me under the bus like that.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt," Bella sighed, agreeing with me.

"Planning on mentioning to Chief Swan who my brother is?" I asked allowing for my half grin and Bella rolled her eyes

"Wasn't really planning on it." she replied and I nodded "but I'm assuming he'll be able to guess."

"You're the boss." I said glancing over at Marie's table.

The group of girls grinned back at me, with looks that made me really concerned, especially since they were giving Patrick, Steve, Paul, and Nick the same look.

When the guys looked over at the senior table at me for an explanation I shrugged, they were on their own for this, it was every man for himself in this situation.

Bella caught the look being passed between the three tables and grinned as she figured out what was going on.

I shot her a look that clearly said 'not a word' and it just made her grin wider as she turned her attention to her abandoned lunch.

In the Forks world as I like to call it, my classmates were under the impression that I had turned fifteen while my family was in LA. I was still a year away from being able to drive legally and it was a pain in the butt to have to be driven around Forks when I have my own car and a motorcycle for transportation.

Luckily we worked out the driving arrangements for me tutoring Bella after school. Edward wasn't pleased with the fact he wasn't allowed in the Swan house until after seven, but I was getting in on a technicality.

Normally Edward has taken it upon himself to be Bella's personal chauffeur, but this morning Chief Swan had insisted that Bella take her truck, which was fine with me as I slid into the passenger seat eagerly.

As Bella started it up I tilted my head listening for the usual roar, it was certainly getting louder and I was positive I heard a knocking sound in there, granted I love Bella's truck to begin with and the noises it makes are just part of its character and charm, but that particular noise was not a good noise.

Bella looked over at me and narrowed her eyes

"Don't even think about it Chris," she warned

"Think about what?" I asked serious

"Leave my truck alone it's fine."

The look on her face told me that while she was serious about her order for me to leave the truck alone, she wanted me to know that she wasn't mad, sometimes Bella tends to forget that I can profile her.

"But, but" I started to say grinning wide

"No buts." She replied as we pulled onto the main road heading for her house.

It was so strange to be in a car that barely made it over the fifty MPH mark, Bella does not speed anywhere. I seriously wonder if that's just her cautious nature or if Chief Swan's had a hand in that.

My short attention was taking over and I was at the point where I wanted to take over the wheel just to go a little faster. The only thing that stopped me from doing so was the fact that I knew going anywhere near sixty MPH was a surefire way to rattle Bella's poor truck apart.

When we finally reached the Swan house I slid out of the passenger seat and followed Bella inside. I've never been in the Swan house, I mean I've never had a reason to, anytime I have been over here is because of what was sitting outside, in other words Bella's truck.

I seriously had to wonder who Bella thought changed her oil last year, or her brake pads, or even changed her wiper-blades. Chief Swan may have changed her winter tires back to regulars, but it was me with the rest of the truck's upkeep. Bella must have thought Chief Swan had done it all and I can only imagine who Chief Swan thought did it.

The house was small, at least compared to our house, but I liked it, it was cozy and homey. I dropped my backpack on the kitchen table as Bella went to the sink to get a glass of water.

"Can I get you anything?" Bella asked out of politeness, obviously forgetting momentarily who/what she was talking too. I grinned and shook my head.

"No, thanks though," I pulled out my notebook and my own calculus book "which did you want to start on first? Calc or history?"

Bella eyed both the book and her backpack with apprehension before closing her eyes and pointing at the calc book.

"Just get this over with." She sighed, sitting down next to me

"Do you guys get weekly tests? We do."

"Yes," Bella replied pulling a packet of papers held together by a paperclip out of her backpack and handed it to me.

"You actually haven't been doing bad," I replied looking over the packet "I mean the lowest grade you got on here was a seventy. So I mean I can show you some great tips for the exam, especially on the ones you missed." Bella nodded and we got to work.

I had no doubt that Bella was going to be fine on the exam when it came, she was just nervous about a lot of the material which made her question her ability to compelte the practice tests and the weekly quizzes.

We were just wrapping up the last of my pointers when I heard a car pull into the drive. I knew the sound of the car, it was a Ford and it was a police cruiser, Chief Swan was home, it was about to get interesting here.

Bella saw me looking off in the distance at something she couldn't see, she stood up and looked out the window confirming my guess that it was her dad.

When Chief Swan walked in he didn't notice me at first, I think he simply went about his usual routine without paying much attention to the extra body in the room.

It wasn't until after he hung up his gun belt did he turn around and see me sitting at the kitchen table.

"Uh, Bella, what did I tell you about guests while your grounded?"

"Dad, this isnt a guest exactly, this is Chris, he's helping me out with calculus." Bella tried to explain. Chief Swan raised an eyebrow, studying me "you know tutoring? So I can pass my exams? And graduate?" Bella continued until the word graduate and that seemed to clue Chief Swan in.

I stood up slowly and took the risk with my ice cold hands, held out a hand to Chief Swan to shake. He nodded and accepted the gesture.

"Nice to see you Chief Swan." I said softly

"Do I know you from somewhere?" he asked suspicious again, as we dropped hands. In a town the size of a postage stamp, it's nearly impossible to not know EVERYONE, I've met Chief Swan a handful of times, the first time was him catching me riding my dirt-bike without a helmet. "You're one of Dr. Cullens kids aren't you? You're the youngest one right?"

I nodded

"Yes sir, I'm Chris Cullen."

The look Chief Swan gave Bella was hilarious; it was a mix between surprise and demanding an explanation with his eyes.

"Chris is good with calculus and I've been having a hard time with it so he volunteered to tutor me. I figured the 'no visitor rule' didn't apply to non-Edward involved tutoring."

"No, of course not." Chief Swan said, he rubbed his chin thoughtfully "he's not here is he?"

Now Bella rolled her eyes

"No he's not, and for your information dad, Dr. Cullen is picking Chris up at five after his shift at the hospital, so no I'm not going over to the Cullen's house."

Chief Swan nodded; apparently he wasn't going to argue anymore about the subject.

"Well, I appreciate you helping Bella out there Chris."

"Not a problem sir, it's the least I could do."

"Right," Chief Swan replied. He nodded again and headed into the living, seconds later I heard the sound of the Mariners game blaring on the TV.

"Well that went swimmingly." I said with a grin and Bella sat back down next to me sighing.

"Thanks again Chris for helping me out." She said

"I meant what I said, it's no problem, I like helping people out when I can and seriously it gives me something to do this afternoon. Do you realize how difficult it is to get the big TV in my house during baseball, football, basketball, hockey, NASCAR, and hockey seasons? We're talking every season, for every sport Emmett's hogging the TV. I have to go online just to watch my Cricket and football matches."

Bella giggled a little

"Which reminds me Chris; I couldn't help but notice the looks that Marie was giving you." Bella started "is everything okay with you too?"

I made a face, Bella knew exactly what was going on, she was just dancing around the subject, but I could profile it. I had to admit though, Bella knowing was a lot better than my sisters knowing, safer too.

"The Freshman Sophomore dance," I replied, "Marie's planning on asking me, her and the other girls in our English class plus one girl whose new have all basically tagged us guys for the dance."

"And you're worried about dancing?" Bella asked obviously confused

I shook my head

"It's complicated, and it involves what is going to happen when this school year is over." At first Bella was still confused, but then she put it together as her face went sympathetic,

"oh Chris I'm sorry."

"Aw don't be, I'll figure it out. It's what my ability does, it's there to help me figure stuff out in the long run, I'm just hoping it doesn't disappoint."

Bella nodded

"So I'm assuming Alice doesn't know?"

"Oh I'm sure she knows, she just hasn't seen Marie asking me yet, when she does I've already concluded I'm in trouble." I paused "anyways, I've got half an hour before Carlisle comes to get me, lets go over your history notes and see where you think you're having trouble."

As Bella flipped through her notebook, I thought over what had just happened, I had opened up to Bella, I mean more than just the usual friendly conversation.

I had actually just told her what was on my mind and what was concerning me, if that wasn't proof that a trust between Bella and me had been established nothing would.


	3. Chapter 3

I bolted down the driveway as fast as I could, going right for the mailbox. We don't tend to get much mail; Carlisle has a postbox in town for most of the mail, but every once in a while we get something delivered to the home mailbox.

What I was waiting for was due to come today, a few days prior I had ordered a new laptop, the computer itself wasn't due to come for another few days and would be brought by UPS right to the house. However some of the accessories I had ordered were due today and I couldn't wait for them, a mouse, extra keyboard, a new set of headphones, and some awesome gaming software were due to arrive.

When I reached the end of the driveway I skidded to a stop looking around, the mail truck of course was nowhere to be seen. It's rare for them to have to deliver way out here so I could imagine they'd want it to be a quick stop.

Inside the mailbox was a load of junk mail, most of it addressed to Emmett which I was afraid to ask, no sign of my package which should have just fit in the mailbox. There was something inside that was of the right size, a package addressed to Edward from the University of Alaska.

I grinned wide and resisted the urge to open it and the letter attached. Of course Edward had been accepted, there was no doubt in my mind of that and he would have made sure Bella was accepted as well, as well as being accepted to every college he had made her apply to, amongst the stack was more schools he had applied to.

Just as I was about to turn and run back to the house, I spotted the Volvo coming around the bend. Edward was on his way to Bella's house for his usual visit, Chief Swan was still not to happy about the arrangement, even though he had come up with the terms of Bella's grounding. I think he had hoped it would persuade Bella and Edward to take some time off from one another, which we all knew wasn't going to happen.

"Mail?" Edward called rolling down his window.

I grinned and nodded

"Yeah, and you got something, open it up will you?" I replied throwing the package at my brother.

He rolled his eyes and tore open the letter first, as slow as humanly or vampirely possible, he knew I was after the contents of the package and he was stalling just to be funny.

"Well, well, well, would you look at that, I have been accepted to the University of Alaska" Edward said matter-of-factly and I rolled my eyes at him.

"You say that like you doubted yourself." I replied sarcastically "how about the package now?"

Edward chuckled and finally turned his attention to the package, which was more important to me than his stupid acceptance letter. He didn't open it, instead he just tossed it to me.

"Go for it."

I ripped the package open and pulled out the green sweatshirt with University of Alaska Anchorage the campus that Edward and Bella had applied too, on it as well as the mascot for the school, the Seawolves. The application paperwork for most of the schools asked for the interested student to mark down the size sweatshirt they would prefer if they were in fact accepted. Promising me that I would get all of his university advertisements, Edward had marked the size as a small, for me.

I pulled the sweatshirt on over my tee-shirt and put the gray hat with the same symbol on the hat, on. It was now Edward's turn to roll his eyes.

"Thanks Edward." I said with a grin

"Happy now?"

"For now, where else did you apply?"

Edward handed me back the pile of mail

"Look for yourself." He replied, returning my grin as he drove off.

I was just about to run back when I heard a car on the road, I paused, wondering if Edward had actually forgotten something, probably a first. But instead I saw the Mercedes coming up the road. Carlisle slowed to a stop and looked at me, raising an eye brow.

"Chris, do I want to know?"

"Just checking the mail." I answered truthfully.

Carlisle looked me over spotting my attire, he began to chuckle and shook his head, amused.

"Edward received his acceptance letter I take it."

"It's a possibility." I replied grinning, "how was your shift?"

"Relatively slow." Carlisle paused "hop in Chris, I need your opinion on something."

I darted to the other side of the Mercedes and climbed in the passenger side. Carlisle started the car up again and we headed down our driveway slowly

"Everything okay?" I asked and Carlisle sighed

"In my bag Chris, there's a copy of the Seattle Times, take it out will you?"

"Sure," I reached into his bag and lifted the thick newspaper out. Carlisle gets newspapers from all over the world delivered to his post office box and to the hospital. Forks is so small it doesn't even have it's own newspaper, it shares news with some of the surrounding towns and together they correlate into a newspaper, sort of.

The headlines for this particular issue made me realize immediately why Carlisle had me read it:

**Death Toll On The Rise, **

**Police Fear Gang Activity.**

I read the article in a matter of seconds and stared at Carlisle when I was finished. It was amazing the change in attitude in just a few days. The police had obviously been avoiding the issue at hand, apparently all the pushing by Fox news had paid off.

"I'm assuming you heard this story on the news?" Carlisle asked as we neared the garage.

"Jasper was watching the news the other day, Fox was the only one to be covering it. I may think they're idiots and all about covering the latest story over the story itself, but they knew something wasn't right before the cops were even ready to admit it."

"What do you think?" I chuckled and Carlisle raised an eyebrow grinning a little "what did I say?"

"Nothing, it's just Jasper asked me the same thing. I honestly don't know what to think about this, something doesn't feel right about it, but I'm not entirely sure." I paused and looked at my father "you don't believe its gangs do you?"

Carlisle shook his head. He parked the Mercedes next to Esme's Audi and we both headed inside through the kitchen. Everyone seemed to be scattered, because no one seemed to notice our entrance. I could hear the TV broadcasting a hockey game and Emmett cheering at it. Alice and Rosalie had gone off hunting, Jasper I was assuming was in the library, and Esme was in her office.

I put the mail on the counter and followed Carlisle through the house towards Esme's office.

"No, I do not think its gang related. I believe Seattle is dealing with something that is completely out of normalcy and certainly out of the police department's league." The look on Carlisle's face told me everything I needed to know as I profiled him.

"Our kind?!" I exclaimed "oh hell…"

"Chris, language." Carlisle reminded and sighed, I had a feeling I had just voiced his own opinion on the matter. "It's just a theory of course, it could very well be gang related as the papers are reporting."

"We should be on alert though. If someone is hunting this close to us it's not going to be pretty. And whoever it is, they're not careful and that's not good either. This is drawing the wrong kind of attention and it's only a matter of time before it gets further out of hand."

"Hence why I brought this back to your attention, I've already spoken with Jasper, we will just have to rely on the news for more information."

"And if it comes to it, we might have to go to Seattle, to at least investigate." I pointed out and Carlisle sighed

"I just hope it does not come to that. Because it may start out as a simple investigation, but it might very well turn violent."

"War?" I asked and Carlisle looked at me quickly, he had seen that as perhaps the only alternative, but was hoping it would never come to that. "Clearly this is not the work of just one idiot, I can't tell how many are involved, but there is no way this is all being done by a single individual. We go to Seattle to investigate, find the group of idiots or the pair, whatever, it's not going to be a peaceful conference."

Carlisle nodded

"I know, I just wish it could go another way."

"I do too Carlisle, hopefully it won't have to come to us going to Seattle, maybe it is just gang related, a rise in homicides as it gets closer to summer it makes sense."

Carlisle patted my head and went down the hall to Esme's office. I sighed and headed upstairs to my room. I was going to do what I should've done when I first heard about this situation; I was going to do some research, see what the other news organizations knew about what was going on.

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The other guys were foolishly trying to figure out how to escape the dance. I gave up early on trying to fight Marie and the other girls, pretty soon the other guys would give up too.

"What if we like, plan a movie for that night, if we plan it now we can convince the girls to go to a movie instead of the dance." Nick brought up and I snorted back a laugh "what, come on Chris it's a good idea."

"Let's see, Dance Vs. Movie" I replied using my hands to mimic a scale "me thinketh the dance is going to win." I grinned wide "don't forget I have two older sisters, I know how girls think, at least on that front."

The guys groaned as they realized I was right. For a second they went back to eating, obviously deep in thought.

"Anyone have a birthday coming up?" Paul asked randomly, we all looked at each other for a second.

"Mine's next month." Steve spoke up "the sixth."

"What are you thinking Paul?" Patrick asked

"Steve would you're parents object to having a birthday party, say on the eighth?" Paul asked with a grin and I saw right away where he was going with his latest scheme.

"A birthday party?" Steve repeated "why would I-…Oh, I get it." he grinned wide and took a huge bite of his cheese burger "that might work. Are we inviting the girls?"

"That's the idea stupid." Paul returned the grin "we get a party with tons of food and no dancing!"

I was about to argue that idea too, but kept my mouth shut, it was just hilarious to begin with and I knew I wasn't going to get anywhere with my idea of just giving in.

Instead I looked over at the senior table, I felt a pit in my stomach and a twitch on the back of my neck, usually a sign that something was about to happen. My gaze fell on Alice as her face went blank, she was having a vision.

Bella saw it too as she picked up a conversation with Angela, obviously distracting her from Alice's odd behavior.

When Alice's vision finished, she looked at Edward first as he saw her vision as well. Then she looked over at me, allowing me to read her body language. Whatever Alice had seen it had unnerved her and it involved Bella somehow.

"Chris what about your place? Do you think we could have a party at your place?" Paul asked calling me back to the conversation.

I blinked and shook my head for a second gathering my thoughts.

"Come again?" I asked even though I had heard him perfectly fine.

"Would your folks be okay with us having a party?"

"Okay, first off, you guys realize that the girls are never going to let any of us away from the school dance. Secondly, my parents are going to have enough to deal with as far as the graduation party my sister is planning. My sister Alice gets scary…no that's not even the right word, she gets bloody terrifying when it comes to parties and stuff, so I don't think my parents will be mentally ready to deal with us throwing a party followed very quickly by my sister's insanity."

The guys groaned at that and went back to eating, I knew this was not the last conversation we would have regarding the dance. To be honest I was a little surprised Paul had asked about having the party at my house.

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As I was walking to the parking lot, Marie stopped me. I had been watching her all day, knowing she was preparing herself to ask me to the dance. I could see it in her body language how nervous she was, even if it was just me she was still a little nervous, she apparently wanted to ask me a certain way and was trying to ask it right. I had a feeling that Angela and some of our friends had been helping and coaching her today.

"Chris," she called running up to me. Her mum is the librarian for the high school, so Marie has taken to staying after and just riding home with her.

"Hey Marie," I replied "how do you think you did on the Spanish test?"

"Eh," she answered shrugging

"Eh? Is that a: eh, it was good or eh: I hate Spanish?" I asked grinning and after a second or two, she returned the grin.

"Um, I was wondering, you know the dance?" I nodded letting her speak "well, would you…I mean did you…" she was faltering I could see it, out of the corner of my eye I spotted Angela, heading towards Ben's car, Marie looked over at her desperately and Angela gave her a smile and a wave. This gesture seemed to be the push that Marie needed "would you go to the dance with me?"

The dance was inevitable, I had already come to that conclusion, it was only a matter of time before the other guys figured it out too, and besides, I couldn't say no to Marie like that, no matter what.

"Of course I'll go with you, it will be a great honor M'lady." I replied grinning.

Marie giggled a bit

"Okay, thank you Chris, see you tomorrow?"

"Will do, have a good night Marie!"

"You too Chris," and with that Marie ran back into the school. I rolled my eyes chuckling a bit as I headed towards the Volvo.

Alice kind of intercepted me as I was going that way. She looked distracted and I knew it had something to do with her vision.

"So, you going to tell me or do I have to guess?" I asked as Alice wrapped her arm around my shoulder holding me close.

"I'll explain when we get home," she replied nodding at Bella so indiscreetly there was no way Bella would've noticed.

"That sounds ominous," I guessed and Alice nodded. "wonderful, just promise me there's no leaving the state in our near future."

"No Chris, I promise."

"Works for me."

We had just reached the Volvo, Edward and Bella weren't far behind us, and Edward for some reason was talking to Mike Newton. I was fully prepared to ignore the conversation, until the word car came up, a word that always catches my attention.

"But I just replaced the battery in the car," Mike was saying

"Perhaps it's the cables?" Edward suggested and I rolled my eyes

"Maybe, I really don't know anything about cars. I need to have someone look at it, but I can't afford to take it to Dowlings."

Now I made a gagging noise, Dowlings is the only advertised mechanics shop in the town and he uses that to his full advantage. He charges ridiculous prices and usually only fixes the problem long enough for it to become a problem again.

If Rosalie and I could we would open our garage up to the general public to do repairs for half the price Dowlings is charging, but it's a little too weird and suspicious on our part, but I would rather junk my Mustang than bring it to Dowlings to be repaired, that's how bad he is and how much I do not trust him.

"I know a few things…I could take a look, if you'd like," Edward said and I nearly burst out laughing. "Just let me drop Alice, Bella, and Chris off at home."

"Er… thanks," Mike was certainly taken aback by that offer, as was Bella and Alice, me I was just dumbfounded by Edward thinking he could be a proper mechanic. "But I have to get to work. Maybe some other time."

_Probably a good thing Mike. You don't want Edward messing around under the bonnet of your car, trust me_. I thought, knowing full well Edward heard me, he shot me a glare and I grinned back at him

"Absolutely." Edward replied still glaring at me

"See ya." Mike said getting into his car and driving off in disbelief at what had just occurred.

"What was that about?" Bella muttered as she climbed into the passenger seat. Alice and I exchanged a look and grinned at each other

"Just being helpful," Edward said.

Now I had to snort back a laugh, this was absolutely the most hilarious thing that had happened in weeks. I was picturing the ad for a new movie coming out next month from PIXAR, the computer animated company with Disney.

The movie was called Cars and it actually looked pretty funny and was something I was willing to bet Rosalie would want to see. But I was picturing Edward under the hood of one of the movie cars and the poor car's pained and embarrassed eyes.

I burst out laughing again and this time the glare game through the rearview mirror as he saw what I just imagined.

"Edward, despite what you may think you're about as much of a mechanic as Emmett is a Grand Chess Master." I said around my chuckles, "need I remind you about the spark plug incident of '92?" I added smartly. Edward's glare intensified, and Alice spoke up in my defense.

"Chris is right though, you're really not that good a mechanic, Edward. Maybe you should have Rosalie and Chris take a look at it tonight, just so you look good if Mike decides to let you help, you know. Not that it wouldn't be fun to watch his face if _Rosalie_ AND _Chris_ show up to help. But since Rosalie is supposed to be across the country attending college, I guess that's not the best idea. Too bad. Though I suppose for Mike's car, you'll do. It's only within the finer tuning of a good Italian sports car you're out of your depth."

"And '68 mustangs, and 2003 Audi A6's, and 2005 Jeep Wrangler's, and-" I began before Alice clamped a hand over my mouth. I was listing all the cars the cars we own, further proof that Edward is no mechanic and is not allowed near ANY of our cars minus of course his own. He wants to kill the Volvo that's his problem.

"Speaking of Italy and sports cars that I stole there, you still owe me a yellow Porsche. I don't know if I want to wait for Christmas…" Alice started to say

"I don't know if I CAN wait for you to buy it for her for Christmas." I exclaimed, around Alice's hand. I had heard all about this Porsche that Alice had stolen in Italy and I was dying to see it for myself and to make it better, Edward had promised to buy her one for Christmas. My biggest issue was Christmas was so far away.

Alice rolled her eyes and whapped the brim of my hat. I grinned and pulled out my headphones. Bella had been quiet for the most part and was giving Edward some pretty intense looks up front. She obviously knew Alice had seen something and for some reason or another Edward was refusing to share with her.

When we finally reached our driveway, Alice and I slid out and waved bye to Edward and Bella, Edward managed a see you later and a nod before he sped off down the street.

Alice looked at me and sighed.

"Come on Chris, I'll explain what's going on." She paused as we started down the driveway for the house "the first thing you need to know is we are not moving."

"Good to know and that's certainly a good place to start."

"Edward is taking Bella to Florida for a few days to visit her mother."

"Florida…the SUN shine state?!" I exclaimed "yeah that's a good idea right there. Why are they going to Florida? I mean is it really just to visit Bella's mum?"

Alice shook her head

"No of course there's more." Alice sighed "Edward wants Bella as far away from Forks as possible this weekend. In my vision, I saw Victoria coming very close to town."

"Victoria, the tracker's mate? Oh bloody hell." I paused "we're going to fight her arent we?"

"If it comes to that, our main goal has to be to drive her back."

I nodded,

"Sounds like a plan to me. I'm in for some tracking."

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A/N: Hey Guys, first off thank you for the reviews I've received I appreciate them so much it means a lot to me to see repeat readers who have been following Chris throughout these stories. I do need your help though guys, for the next chapter I am beyond stuck, it's of course the scene between the Cullens, the Wolves, and Victoria. I've been trying to write the chapter without the movie's influence, but that sucker is persistent and I keep picturing it. So here's my dilemma, do I write the chapter based on the movie? And if no can you guys PM me with suggestions on how it should play out. I have not had such bad writers block on any chapter before this with Chris's fics and I know if anyone can help me out of the block it's you guys! Thanks again everyone!


	4. Chapter 4

Emmett and I brought up the rear of the group as we hiked to the spot Alice had seen Victoria make her appearance. It took me a second or two to realize just how close to the boundary line we were.

In fact I would be entirely surprised if the wolves didn't know we were there. I did have to wonder if the wolves knew someone else was coming, someone who wouldn't obey the treaty line.

"This is the spot then Alice?" Carlisle asked and Alice closed her eyes for a moment just to be sure.

She nodded and slowly opened her eyes

"Yes, right over that tree line."

I looked to where my sister was pointing and I took a deep breath, before scaling the closest tree. I scanned the forest looking for Victoria's distinctive red hair, I didn't see it, but a piercing scent attacked my nose and I had to gag for a second as it overwhelmed my other senses.

The wolves were close; they were also nearing the line waiting for the intrusion. I couldn't be sure if they suspected anything and if they did, would we be able to work together like this? We all had the same goals here, protect the town, protect the humans, protect Bella and her father.

Down below me I saw Alice go stiff, I quickly jumped down from my branch and landed next to my sister.

"Alice?" Jasper called,

"She's coming." Alice replied "to your left!"

Instinctively we all looked to our left and I saw the red hair. _Bingo, show time_! I thought and took off in her direction.

It was amazing how she moved; she stayed right on the boundary line as if it was drawn out on a map for her, as if she was taunting not only us, but the wolves as well. I could feel Jasper and Emmett right behind me.

I leapt over a down tree and raced after her trying my best to stay on our side of the line. It wasn't easy, she moved within inches of crossing it and then when I got within an arms reach of her, she skipped to the other side of the line, but not before darting back at me and sidestepping me so I nearly tripped as I went to grab her. That was the only time I let her get ahead of my profile, I knew I had to focus better.

Jasper came up behind me and tried to tackle her, but I quickly profiled her moving deeper into the woods over the line. It was tough to read her in all reality, her motions were jumbled and unfocused, as soon as she decided on one course of action she would change it in a split second forcing my profile to reassemble the chess pieces, which thankfully is what my ability is best at.

"Jaz, she's going to them, back off a bit and circle around, we gotta let the wolves have a shot!" I called and Jasper nodded.

Together we stayed on the line, following her as she moved deeper and deeper into wolf territory. The ground shook as the pack thundered towards the line chasing her and just as one of them nearly had her in his teeth, she skipped over the line again right in front of me.

I swear she turned and looked at me, her eyes gleaming and her mouth turned in a sadistic smile. She WAS taunting us, all of us, she gave me a little wave with just her fingers and sped up, I'm fast, but I couldn't catch her, I hate to admit it, but she was much faster than me, and trust me that's a scary thought. She may be faster than me, but there was no way hell I was going to let her out-profile me.

We were nearing the river now. The path we were running down drops off at the edge of the cliff and drops into the shallow part of the river below, no more than five feet from the shallowest part, the river deepens. The deeper part of the river is wolf territory, it's where our line ends and theirs resumes.

Victoria didn't even hesitate as she jumped off the edge. I tried to calculate where the edge really was and nearly went over myself as Jasper reached out and grabbed hold of my sweatshirt and pulling me to a stop.

The rest of the family came running up to us and also skidded to a stop, but Emmett kept going, he didn't stop as he neared the edge and followed Victoria over, jumping down into the shallow part of the river.

"Em!" I shouted "watch the line!"

"She's going into their territory again," Carlisle spoke up frantically "Emmett quick, get out of there, do not go any further!"

I bolted right to the edge, Emmett was still on our side of the treaty line, he was in the clear, but I could see movement in the woods coming quickly, the wolves.

One of them stepped over their line and moved slowly towards Emmett, growling and showing it's razor sharp canines.

Emmett of course being Emmett growled right back, he knew we had the right to be where we were, we had not crossed their line, it was not wolf territory yet.

The wolf wouldn't move out of Emmett's way, it blocked him each time my brother moved, it was going to put Emmett in his place no matter what, even if it meant the other vampire was to get away.

I could see the flash of red hair as Victoria disappeared again, Em could have caught her, him and the wolf together could have easily taken her down and ended this whole thing right then and there. The more important issue at hand apparently was treaty line and who had crossed over it first.

I could feel the wolf's emotions, it was PISSED, and very sure that Emmett was breaking the treaty, he had crossed the line, which he hadn't. I had studied that line religiously. I made sure early on in this life I knew where in Forks I was allowed to go and where I couldn't. If I wasn't allowed to go to First Beach, I was sure going to know where else I couldn't go without crossing into Quileute land, I knew which markers made it our side and which made it theirs.

Suddenly the rest of the pack joined the grey wolf. Rosalie jumped down to be with Emmett, trying to protect him.

I didn't think twice before joining them, I was not about to let my brother and sister be outnumbered like that.

The atmosphere was so tense I felt overwhelmed by it, but the wolves seemed surprised by me and backed off a bit, not once taking their eyes off of Emmett.

"We're not in their territory," I hissed at Em and Rose, they knew that too and the wolf in front of us seemed to growl a bit more when I said that, his eyes narrowing at me. "The line is over there." I added making sure the wolf heard me as I pointed to the invisible line.

The wolf closest to me growled again, he obviously didn't care what I thought, he knew where the line was, what did I know, not only was I stupid little kid, but I was a stupid little blood sucker. He snapped his jaw at me, making sure that I saw his oversized canines.

I wanted to growl my response; instead I simply stared into his eyes, a stare down with a werewolf, probably not my best idea. The wolf snapped his jaw at me and made a move to lunge, it was trying to scare me away and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't attack me. I hadn't given them reason too, it was possible that they could argue that Emmett had crossed over the line; me on the other hand, I was nowhere near it.

When I didn't even flinch and he looked at me in surprise, obviously trying to hide it. Instead he growled again, I could see his fur along his back bristling, he wanted me to be terrified of him and was offended that I wasn't. I was pretty sure he was going to keep trying to find a way to scare me into submission.

Emmett and Rosalie both thought I was in danger and moved to shield me. Rosalie pulled me in between her and Em, both trying to keep me out of sight of the wolf.

"Please, we mean no harm." Carlisle called from the cliff; I looked to see who he was speaking too. It was one of the larger wolves, who gave off an aura of leadership and authority. Must have been the alpha, Sean…Steve, Sam I think Bella said his name was.

Sam growled his response and I saw Carlisle stiffen for just a second, he was trying to keep his voice calm and reassuring, even so I noticed him move ever so slightly in front of Esme, protecting her, as Jasper did the same for Alice.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, focusing my emotions. I had never thought of trying my ability with animals, on the wolves. After all this was the first time I have seen them in person, after hearing the mixed stories from Carlisle, Rosalie, Edward, Em, and Esme and researching the rest on my own, I've always been curious about our shape-shifting Indian neighbors and anxious to find out more about them.

It never occurred to me that wolves who were normally human, might be effected by my ability. I was pretty sure it wouldn't work, I knew I had to try, I had to get things calmed down between the wolves and us before someone made the wrong move. It was bad enough that Victoria got away after all that, but I certainly did not want to be involved in a fight with a pack of werewolves.

The last thing we needed was to be fighting the wolves right now. It would devastate Bella if something happened to one of them. Then again, it might not be a massacre on their side, I couldn't be 100% sure, since they weren't exactly standing still long enough for me to count them, but I think they outnumbered us, by at least two.

I concentrated as hard as I could on calming the wolves and to my surprise it actually worked. I could see the wolves starting to calm down and back off a bit. They had no idea why this was happening to them and I could tell they didn't like it, but I was so focused I wasn't giving them an alternative, they were going to back off and calm down whether they liked it or not.

I was pushing my ability to the max, I've never used it on these kinds of numbers before, I'm used to a deer or two, maybe a single predator, but never an entire pack of animals. I was still not sure how much control I really had in this situation, regardless of what stood in front of us, these were not originally animals in that sense, they were human beings…sorta.

"It's the red haired one we need to be concerned with!" I said, trying not to break my concentration

"She is dangerous to not only the town but to you as well. She is not of our family, she will not respect the boundaries that were set in place with your ancestors" Carlisle explained, "she is out for vengeance against Bella Swan and will hunt human prey when it suits her. As you saw she has no qualms about crossing into your territory at will. And she will pose a danger to the reservation if she is not stopped, she wants revenge that is her one motive and anyone in her way is in danger."

With me keeping the wolves calm, Em realized that the wolf had backed away from him and wasn't focused on gnawing his leg off. He took Rosalie's hand and she pulled me even closer to her as we slowly made our way back up to the cliff with the family. I half expected the wolf to break out of my control and snap at our heels, but he did not move.

As soon as I was back on the cliff, I stood next to Carlisle. Sam looked my way as I did so and narrowed his eyes a bit, studying me.

"You guys run patrols on the boundary line, making sure we do not cross, right?" I wasn't really expecting an answer so I was a bit surprised when Sam nodded ever so slightly. "Well, we won't cross over. In the years since that treaty was forged, no Cullen has ever broken it, right? We have no reason too, she does. Just remember her scent when you're out doing patrols." I said

"She will be back," Jasper explained, still blocking Alice from the wolves, Alice however was peeking around Jasper watching the wolves closely.

"Like it or not" I started, "we're going to have to work together somehow. She's a danger to all of us. It's no accident she went over the line, she's testing the boundaries and testing you guys as well as us. She's trying to figure out what she's up against and if we can't come to some kind of truce she's going to keep testing the flaws in the system until she can break it down entirely. She may have thought we were working together today, now she's certain we are not, and what just happened proved at least one other thing to her today, that we're willing to stop chasing her to fight each other." I paused as Carlisle continued where I left off.

"Our goal here is not to order you about, but you deserved to know what we're up against. Whether we actually work together or not, she's your enemy too, we have a common enemy here!"

Carlisle put his hand on my shoulder and nodded at Sam, but the look on Sam's face told it all. They didn't want our help, we were no better than Victoria in their eyes and our promise and vows were not about to change that attitude.

Frankly I didn't care if they didn't trust us, it would make things a lot more difficult, but as long as the end result was the same, Bella, Chief Swan, and the rest of the humans in and around Forks had to be protected, that's what the wolves were doing and that's what we were doing.

"She's gone for now, but my son is correct she will be back. We all must be prepared for that. I am sorry that things reached this point; it was truly not our intention to encroach onto Quileute land-."

"Which we didn't," I muttered and Esme took my hand and gave it a squeeze, silently telling me not to instigate.

Carlisle's hand did not leave my shoulder, nor did Esme let go of my hand as we turned away from the wolves and headed back through the woods towards home. I never know how far of a reach my ability has so I tried to keep focused on calm emotions until we were far enough away from the boundary line.

"We could've had her!" Emmett growled slamming his fist into his hand "she was right there, if that mangy mutt hadn't gotten in my way I would-"

"Kept chasing her onto their land?" I interrupted as we approached the house. Emmett was buggard, that is to say bloody mad, and who could blame him, he's not used to losing like this and I had to agree with him, I certainly counted this as a loss in my book.

But Emmett wasn't looking at the bigger picture, if he had kept going and actually went onto Quileute land, they would have no qualms tearing him to shreds. Hell the wolf that had blocked him was willing to shred him just for going near the line.

Emmett growled his response and then sighed as he realized I was right, not that I wanted to be this time.

"It certainly could have gone better," Carlisle said as we headed into the house, despite my clothes being caked in dried mud, Esme didn't say one word to me as I collapsed on the couch.

"But it also could have gone worse." Jasper added he was right; there were definitely worse case scenarios that had been playing in my mind repeatedly.

"I think next time we have a run in with the wolves, Edward needs to be with us. I can only get so much from their emotions and believe it or not profiling them isnt easy. I think this thing would've gone a lot smoother if Edward could tell us their thoughts and we could respond properly. I probably instigated more than I helped."

"Nonsense Chris, you got them calmed down quickly and quietly. Emotions were running high and you were able to combat that well." Jasper said sitting down next to me

"Could you feel their emotions?" I asked

Jasper's gift has always been geared towards humans and vampires, it does not work on animals. My ability on the other hand we've never tried testing it on humans or vampires, I've only focused on animals, so we've never concluded if my ability is a near copy to Jasper's only extended.

But since the wolves are human for the most part, it made me curious if Jasper could sense their emotions.

"Actually I could somewhat, there was a lot of anger and frustration Chris. I felt the calm when you began focusing on that and the anger began to fade, the frustration however was still very strong. They knew something was happening to them, but couldn't figure it out and it was frustrating them that they could not combat it."

"I guess that's something." I replied running my hand through my hair "but the wolves arent the only ones frustrated. Emmett is right we should've had her, or at least the wolves could've had her. Now she's still out there, Edward can't keep Bella away forever, they have to come back eventually. What then, how do we keep Bella, Chief Swan, and the rest of Forks safe from Victoria?" I asked looking at each one of my family in turn before looking at Carlisle.

"We will handle it as we always do." Carlisle said gently but firmly. "Alice will keep her visions open to Victoria's moves, you were able to profile her today am I correct?" I nodded "use your profile and your profile of those around you and we will work together as a family to do what we have to do."

I nodded again and sighed

"Okay."

"Don't worry Chris," Alice spoke up kissing the top of my head "we'll get her."

"Come on Chris," Em said joining me on the couch, he handed me one of the four controllers for the XBOX, he handed one other to Jasper and took one for himself "I want to kill something, even if it has to be something in a video game." I sighed again and exchanged a look with Jasper, he grinned and shrugged and turned his controller on.

"Yeah, we'll see about that Em!" Jasper said, nudging my shoulder, I returned the grin and turned my controller on.

"You guys are going down." I added

* * *

A/N: Sorry if this chapter seemed really short. You guys wouldnt believe how much trouble I had writing this chapter, I had it all written, then deleted it and rewrote it and it still didnt sound right. So I hope this third attempt rewrite is acceptable. Before the movie came out, when I first read Eclipse I had the scene playing out in my mind, I knew Edward was leaving out a lot for Bella's sake so my imagination filled in the gaps. This is fairly close to how I saw it play out with some elements from the movie added in. I owe a huge thanks to Fanmanbookman who told me that it wasnt a bad thing to lean on the movie a little bit. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I look forward to hearing from you guys and hopefully the next chapter will be up soon. Thanks again everyone!


	5. Chapter 5

I heard the creak of the stairs before even Chap did, instinctively I looked towards the doorway as I caught the scent of both of my sisters. I groaned, no good could come of this. after the XBOX match, Jasper and Emmett decided to go hunting, I wasn't really in the mood to join them so instead I retreated to my room to watch a movie. Apparently being alone was not an option.

Carefully I slipped Chap back into his cage and silently promised him double treats later as I latched his cage.

The double footsteps were coming closer to my room and I had a feeling I knew what it was about, neither one of my sisters have said anything about the upcoming freshman/ sophomore dance which made me nervous and suspicious.

I made my way over to my window and pushed it open, I could jump down from my room easily, or even scale the closest tree down and be in the garage in seconds. By the time they figured out my plan I could have my bike running and be gone.

Esme wouldn't question it. After the near fight with the wolves her and Carlisle decided to take some time together, they had gone to Port Angeles to see a movie, she was the only other person in the family I would have to worry about over my sisters.

I took a deep breath and jumped out of the window, grabbing hold of the thickest branch before sliding down the tree trunk. I grinned triumphantly and bolted to the garage.

Bella's motorcycle was parked next to mine, so I carefully wheeled my own out away from it and around Rosalie's beemer.

I had just turned the key and kicked up the stand when the door from the kitchen into the garage swung open, Alice was standing in the doorway a look on her face that clearly said, 'do not mess with me'.

It has always amazed me how scary Alice can get, I mean she's a few inches shorter then me, but she's got this look that is just scary, I mean we're talking Wicked Witch Miss Gulch scary (I have no problem admitting that both those characters scared the bloody hell out of me as a kid…come to think of it, those bloody munchkins did too, twelve years old or not that movie in general freaked me out.) anyways, Alice could give them a run for their money, so her standing in the doorway glaring at me and tapping her foot on the concrete stairs, made me instantly regret not escaping sooner.

"Christian, was there something you decided not to tell Rose and I?" she asked kind of menacingly

"uh, not that I can remember." I replied trying to look as innocent as possible, we both knew I wasn't fooling anyone.

"So did Marie ask you to the dance or not?"

"Why ask something when you already know the answer." I asked shutting my bike down, I clearly wasn't going anywhere now.

Now Alice giggled happily clapping her hands together and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at her, it was a little frightening her sudden change in attitude.

"Yay!" she exclaimed she turned and looked back into the house as I wheeled my bike back to its port, "Rose she asked him! I told you she would!"

"Did he say yes? That would be the bigger issue, it's Chris after all." Rose asked poking her head into the garage around Alice. "he might say no just to spite us."

"Hey!" I growled

"Of course he did, its Marie, he wouldn't hurt her like that."

"Um, last time I checked, I'm present for this conversation." Both girls gave me a look and I sighed "or not."

"Chris, get your coat," Rosalie ordered

"Um, why?"

"We're going to Portland." Alice chimed in

I blinked

"Port…land?" I didn't even know why I was bothering to ask, I knew the answer, but I felt need to express my displeasures with the idea, whatever way I could.

"You need a new outfit for the dance" Alice explained "do you know what Marie is wearing?"

I shrugged

"Oh brother. And no I have no idea what Marie is wearing, I'm going to take a shot in the dark and guess a dress?"

Now, Alice and Rosalie both glared at me as if I had just sworn and I shrugged again, I'm sorry Marie didn't feel the need to share her anticipated wardrobe.

"Easy enough to fix," Rosalie replied smiling at Alice she reached into the kitchen where we keep the portable house phone.

"You're not going to do what I think you're going to do are you?" I asked. I walked over to my sisters and Alice covered my mouth with her hand.

"Hi Mrs. Burke?" Rosalie started and I groaned around Alice's hand "Esme Cullen, how are you?"

"Really, Rose is going to impersonate mum now? This is mature, what great influences you guys are." I mumbled as Alice giggled holding me closer to keep her hand on my mouth.

"Very well yes thank you, Mrs. Burke." Rose paused "oh it is so adorable, I'm so happy Marie asked him, Chris is so shy."

"Laid back, I'm laid back!" I said around Alice's hand "there's a difference."

"Chris and I were just about to go purchase a new suit for him, and I thought it be a wonderful idea to check with you to see what kind of dress Marie had picked out?" there was another pause and I just rolled my eyes, I was clearly going to come out on the losing end of this argument. "Oh that will look so adorable on her, that also gives us an idea for the flowers. Well, it was nice chatting with you, oh yes we certainly should think about that. You too, bye, bye."

I crossed my arms and looked at Rose expectantly as she hung up the phone. She continued to ignore my glares as she put the phone back on the receiver, before turning to Alice.

"Well?"

"I have details and Mrs. Burke wants to set up something to talk to Esme, Carlisle and the other parents about renting a limo for the kids."

"A limo!?" I exclaimed "come on it's a freshman dance not prom, who the heck needs a limo to bring them to the high school dance."

"Hush," Alice replied "what about the dress?"

"Oh, Marie is going to look so cute, apparently the girls in Chris' class that are involved in this group date all went to Port Angeles with their moms and picked out their dresses together. Marie's is a midnight blue, but she doesn't want Chris to know what it looks like, but I think we can work with that. There's a wonderful shop in downtown Portland, privately owned, its been in business since 1921"

"Oh good so I can go to the dance looking like a reject from an old bootlegger film?" Rosalie reached over and flicked my ear "ow."

"We should do the alterations ourselves, that way we have total control" Rosalie said looking at Alice

"You do realize it be better to just rent a tux, considering it be a helluv a lot cheaper," I muttered, now Alice flicked my ear in reply

"Hush," she repeated. "I love the idea of the limo, oo, maybe we can get Edward to let them use his Aston Martin, I'm sure we can get one of the boys to act as a chauffeur and drive them."

I suddenly had the image of one of my brothers dressed in a chauffeur uniform driving a limo, in my head and I burst out laughing.

Both my sisters gave me a funny look and I shook my head, no need to explain what I had just pictured, it was one thing to imagine it, but they actually might make it happen and whichever brother was forced to do it, would blame me.

"Come on lets go before it gets any later!" Rosalie exclaimed grabbing my arm and dragging me back into the garage.

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When my phone started to ring as we were walking towards the store, I answered it quickly, knowing it was Carlisle.

Rose reached for the phone to grab it from my hands, but I anticipated her move and darted just out of her reach.

"Dad!" I hissed as I continued to dart back and forth to avoid Rosalie's grappling for the phone "come save me!"

There was a long pause as Carlisle tried to figure out what I was either up too or what I was involved in.

"Chris, er, I was just calling to see what you guys were up too, now I'm afraid to ask."

"Your daughters have kidnapped me and taken me across state-lines, there has got to be some kind of retribution for this!"

Now Carlisle started laughing on the other end, I could hear Esme in the background and she was laughing too.

"And, erm why have your sisters kidnapped you? Actually better question, how did they kidnap you, I thought you were going with Emmett and Jasper hunting?"

"Yeah, I was, but I decided to stay home and watch a movie, now I'm seriously regretting that decision."

"I see." Carlisle paused, he was trying to sound as serious as possible, but was really failing "and where may I ask are they holding you?"

"We're in Oregon! They took me to Portland!"

"Portland? What's in Portland?"

"Something to help the fashionably challenged, we're doing charity work!" Alice exclaimed finally grabbing the phone out of my hand, I was no match for a psychic, despite my best attempts.

"Hey, I'm right here you know! And for the last time I am not fashionably challenged, I know what I like, it just doesn't match your insanity." I replied reaching for the phone, Alice expertly and gracefully sidestepped me.

"Marie asked Christian to the Freshman Sophomore dance!" she giggled and I swear I heard Carlisle sigh, I could picture Carlisle rubbing his temple. "isnt it cute daddy?"

Now I rolled my eyes.

"Brown noser," I muttered grinning.

Carlisle and Esme have never really said it out loud at least, but both always get this look in their eyes whenever one of us calls them mum and dad. Granted I do it pretty much all the time, but with me its more of instinct and due to my physical age. Rose does it on occasion, same with Emmett and Edward, Jasper rarely if ever does, but Alice is an all the timer, especially with Carlisle.

When Alice and Jasper joined the family, Rose was more apt to call Esme mum than Carlisle dad, she was still in an unforgiving set with him, Alice on the other hand had no problem calling Carlisle dad, she went into calling him dad, and especially daddy much more quickly.

Not being able to remember her real dad at all and wanting everything that came with a family, Alice wanted the chance to have a mum and a dad.

But any of us calling them mum and dad reaffirms the fact that we are a family, it gives both Carlisle and Esme the reminder they occasionally need that we are their children and we love them like our parents.

"Alice put your brother back on the phone for a moment." Esme entered the conversation, reluctantly Alice handed me the phone and I winced at it "Christian, why didn't you tell us Marie asked you to the dance!"

"Um, er, it didn't seem relevant at the time?" I replied "and actually it still isnt."

"Nice try mister," Esme gently scolded "you are not skipping out on this dance. Oh Chris your first dance, this is going to be so exciting."

"Great mum, encourage Alice and Rose."

To answer me, Rose flicked my ear, before she grabbed the phone from my hand and moved closer to the store.

"I hope you don't mind Esme, I called Mrs. Burke and asked her what Marie's dress looked like. I told her we were taking Chris to purchase a new suit and wanted to coordinate." Rose explained

"And impersonated you to get the information!" I exclaimed before Alice could cover my mouth, Rose laughed what I had just said off a bit and after a short pause Esme and Carlisle laughed as well.

"I hope you aren't mad mom, I wasn't intentionally being deceitful, I thought it made more sense for Chris' mom to be calling Mrs. Burke rather than his sister."

"Rose what did you tell her exactly?" Esme asked

"Just what I said, I asked her about Marie's dress, apparently this is a group effort as the girls in Chris' English class have collaborated for the dance. Mrs. Burke also brought up the idea of renting a limo for the kids."

"Oh if that's all, no Rose I'm not mad. I'm a little disappointed that you are taking Chris shopping without me."

"See, make mum feel bad nice job." I grinned smugly, this time Alice flicked my ear, I really wish they would stop doing that.

Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"Okay, fine." Esme replied half-heartedly, clearly disappointed and I looked at my sisters expectantly.

"Awww, mom, there'll be other shopping trips!" Alice reassured her, shouting into Rosalie's ear.

I froze and blinked. Other… shopping… trips? As in plural, as in more than this one? Oh hell.

Slowly, I backed away from the maniacal females in my family, I wondered for a second how long it would take me to run from Portland back to Forks, I could find Jasper and Emmett, they'd protect me, they'd have too.

"Of course, you can choose the outfit for the second dance he goes to," Rosalie suggested, grinning wildly.

Wait what? Second dance? Na-uh when did I even agree to a second dance, when did a second dance come into the conversation for that matter? That's it, that was my cue to book it, I turned to break in into a sprint, only to have a miniature hand pull me back.

"Awww, Alice! Come on!" I protested feebly.

"Now, now Chris," Esme scolded from the phone, even though her tone was a bit amused, "you listen to your sister's instructions young man. Your sisters are doing this for you, you know, not for their own personal satisfaction-" _wanna_ _bet_? I thought "Much." She added after a pause. I opened my mouth to protest but was cut off by Esme's stern: "No arguments," phrase which you would always imagine with the look she would give it.

"Okay, we need to get shopping," Alice announced "bye mom! We'll call you when we're on our way home and Chris can tell you all about his new suit." She let go of my shirt with a chirpy bounce and went behind me to literally push me into the store, I had no choice in the matter I had to give in or face more ear flicking.

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By the time we got back to Forks, Edward had returned home from his Florida trip, Emmett and Jasper weren't home yet so I had to tease my brother on my own. He was parked on the couch watching the news when we walked in the door, the prime target. I watched carefully as Alice and Rosalie headed upstairs, carrying their own purchases in addition to my suit.

"So, how was the sunshine state?" I asked innocently. Edward glanced up at me and changed the channel to CNN,

"Sunny." Was his answer and I rolled my eyes,

"Get much time in the sun? you look a little tan." I think my brother was trying to ignore me at this point

"How was shopping?" he asked with a smirk "Rosalie and Alice have fun playing dress up?"

I opened my mouth to give what I thought was a witty reply, but the news story on CNN caught my attention, three more bodies had turned up, only they were mutilated beyond recognition, dental records were needed to identify the victims. On top of that, five more people had gone missing, no trace of them.

The problem was, no it seemed really cared about the missing people at least the new ones, one cop in charge of the area of Seattle where the latest victims were found was the one who had noticed certain street people were missing. CNN it felt like was just brushing it off. I couldn't help but growl at their stupidly, I expected more from CNN. Edward also stopped and looked at it hard before he looked up at me.

"Its getting worse Edward," I said softly

"I know, but there isn't much we can do about it, even if it is our kind."

"Whoever it is, they're drawing way to much attention, its not good, if it is one of our kind and it keeps on like this." I left that sentence unfinished "and on the other side, what if its not one of us, what if this is a human, Seattle could be in for one of the most notorious serial killers its ever had, another Zodiac or Green River Killer, then what?" I was asking Edward not just as my brother, but as the vigilante he was for a period of time before I joined the family.

Edward nodded and shrugged, deciding to change the subject, though I could read his body language, what I had just said was weighing on his mind.

"How did things go yesterday?" he asked

"You mean this morning," Edward looked up at me quickly "Alice had another vision not long after you and Bella left, Victoria coming this morning."

Edward could read my mind, he knew exactly what had occurred in the forest earlier in the day, but I think he wanted to actually hear it.

"What happened?"

I took a deep breath

"She was playing us Edward, us against the pack. She ran the treaty line like she was reading it from a map, anytime one of us got close enough to grab her she'd dart over the line into the wolves territory, then she'd do the same thing to them. It was all a test I think, to see our strengths and weakness, to see theirs, test our fortitude to track her. She made one mistake the entire time and we would've had her, but one of the wolves became so focused on Emmett he left the hunt. In the split second right before she crossed into wolf territory Emmett was right behind her, he would've tackled her to the ground, but the wolf wouldn't let him pass. He was insisting that that we had crossed the line and he was going to make sure we knew it." I paused "we hadn't though. We hadn't crossed the line. I know where it is we were not far from it, but not over it."

"What happened to Victoria?"

"Took off, heading west I think. The wolves wouldn't let us pass." I growled "we could've had her, we could've ended this."

Edward reached up and patted my shoulder, a rare brotherly gesture that I hadn't experienced in a while from him, he's been so preoccupied lately.

"You guys did your best, its all we can do. This is going to take all of us, but we'll do it we'll get her."

I sighed, before vaulting over the couch and lowering myself down to sit down next to my brother.

"How much does Bella know?"

"Nothing," I chuckled "what?"

"We've seen how well keeping stuff from Bella works so yeah good luck with that. Is she still friends with the wolf?"

"Friends is an opportune word, I don't think she has yet to forgive him for the whole bike incident."

"Any chance he'd tell her?"

Edward looked at me quickly and I knew I had guessed correctly

"I'd say it's a pretty good bet."

"Good luck Edward, good luck." I replied grinning, he reached over and pushed me over, returning my grin.

"Tell you what, you be the one to keep her from talking to him, thank you for volunteering."

"In your bloody dreams Edward, I am not messing with Bella, no way in hell."

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A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long to upload, I got bombarded with school and wasnt able to really tweak it to my satisfaction. However I owe a huge huge huge mega big thanks to NanLikesEmmie-Bear who read over the chapter and gave me some much needed help on it, including adding a part I was desperately stuck on, so Nan, thanks again!. Till next update guys, hope you all enjoyed this chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

I knew there was going to be trouble as soon as we pulled into the school parking lot, the following Monday. My ability not only gave me a heads up about a possible situation, but put my stomach into knots, it always makes me wonder if it IS possible for vampires to get ulcers when that happens, 'cause I bloody swear I get them.

Edward had left before us to collect Bella and since she insists he drive somewhat slowly, Alice and I beat both of them to school no problem. Alice parked Rosalie's BMW and was just about to slid out when she froze, quickly I looked over at my sister.

"Alice?" I asked putting a hand on her shoulder, she was stiff and staring into her rearview mirror, I followed her gaze and saw what she did…Jacob Black standing with his motorcycle right near the stairs that led into the school.

"What the bloody hell is he doing here?" I growled

"Whatever it is, no good can come of it" Alice replied. I pushed open my door and slid out of the car quickly. "Chris don't-" Alice started to say, but I waved my hand at her.

"I just want to know what his deal is that's all." I turned and made a beeline for Jacob, trying to maintain human speed, but fighting every step. I wanted nothing more than to run up to him and demand to know what he wanted, before Edward and Bella got there.

Alice started to follow me, but kept back a bit, she couldn't see the wolves psychically of course, but she could see me and would know if something in my future changed drastically. I was glad she stayed back, I didn't want Alice anywhere near Jacob until I knew what the situation was and how I could counter it.

Jacob looked up and I could see his nose wrinkling as he caught my scent, he was looking for Edward's car and was a little surprised he didn't see it, apparently all of us vampires smell exactly alike.

When he finally realized the source of the smell he seemed to groan with frustration, which only got more prominent the closer I got. I tried to breathe through my mouth, the smell which hadn't been that noticeable in the car, was intensified and it was disgusting.

My mind quickly flashed back to the first time I had seen Jacob Black, it was while we Cullens were still "away". When Bella, Mike Newton, and Jacob Black had made arrangements to go to the movies together and I tagged along, unbeknownst to the fore mentioned individuals.

I had swung by the Swans house secretly of course just to see how Bella was doing and from my perch in the tree I was hit with the same smell I was faced with now, only it had most certainly gotten worse, then I remembered at that time, Jacob Black hadn't actually become a werewolf just yet, he was close, but not there yet. Now faced with that smell again I was practically gagging.

When I was about two feet from him, he put his hand up as a peace offering, which I didn't believe for a second.

"Look kid I don't have a problem with you right now, just keep walking." Jacob said softly almost sincerely, which I also didn't believe.

"Says the guy who is trespassing on school property," I muttered crossing my arms defiantly over my chest. "Amazing, you came here all by yourself, didn't think you needed to bring your body guards with you?" I looked around "it's a school, might be dangerous, heard the walls are full of silver." I'm a smart ass, what can I say.

"You're one to talk about trespassing. Can't keep that gorilla brother of yours on a shorter leash? He was over the line, you both were, you're lucky we were in a good mood."

"Hey!" I growled, I took a deep breath, the desire to defend my brother was weighing heavy on my mind, but I knew deep down I couldn't lose my cool.

For one thing, if I ticked Jacob off to much he might transform right in front of everyone, that wouldn't play out well for anyone, human, werewolf, or vampire. For another thing regrettably I was smaller than Jacob, if I did tick him off I might end up as his lunch, not exactly on my bucket list.

"What, did I say something that offended you?" Jacob asked, smirking, he knew he had hit a nerve and I had to pull myself together, I was letting him read me, worse I was getting emotional letting his words get to me.

"As a matter of fact, I just thought you outta know we could've taken care of the red-head if you idiots hadn't gotten in our way. We could've all protected the town, the reservation, and especially Bella and Chief Swan had we all worked together against her, not just us you guys too. But you guys screwed us up and she got away, she'll be back and now that she knows you guys are short sighted she'll go for you guys first, you guys are the weakest piece on the board right now, she's using your hatred of us Cullens to blind you from seeing the big picture." Now Jacob's eyes flashed with a bit of anger "and we weren't over the line for your information, we were free and clear, fetch me a map and I'll prove it."

Jacob looked ready to lunge at me, I hadn't meant the fetch comment the way he took it, it had been meant only as something I normally say, like calling a flashlight a torch or an elevator a lift, its second nature to me. Some phrases and terms will never leave me because of how I was raised. But Jacob took it as the offensive 'fetch it' like a dog, but I swear I didn't mean it like that, though it was kind of funny after the fact.

He let out a low growl and I saw his eyes flash with anger, but I was watching for the signs of him transforming and I didn't see that, when we both heard a car pull into the parking lot, Bella and Edward had arrived. Jacob seemed to relax a bit when he saw her, I don't think he meant for me to see his reaction, but I saw his shoulders drop and his body become less tense.

I couldn't help smirking, as I understood what his real deal was, it had nothing to do with one of his pack-brothers trying to turn Emmett into a vampire chew-toy.

Jacob had foolishly assumed that Bella's sudden disappearance for the weekend was not to see her mother, but because Edward had turned her, what an idiot.

What really surprised me though was the look on Edward's face when he saw me standing near Jacob. It was a look of anger, not towards me, at Jacob and obvious concern for my safety, he didn't like the idea of Jacob being at the school for one thing, but talking to me either. I could see a side of my brother that I know is always there especially towards me, but he doesn't always show, his protective side.

"You might want to get to class little Flea, wouldn't want you to be late." Jacob growled, staring at my brother.

"Over my undead body." I growled right back "I think I want to stay out here in the fresh Forks air, just got to ignore the pungent smell of wet dog."

Now Jacob shot me a cold stare, expecting me to flinch, which I didn't, but in the back of my mind I was preparing for a fight. I've learned over the decades just how far I can instigate; it ties into my ability and reading people.

Off to the side I could see Mike, Ben, Tyler, and Austin watching intently, if I didn't know any better I'd say Ben was about ten seconds away from getting in between Jacob and I, my calm attitude was the only reason he hadn't.

Right alongside Edward came Bella, he was holding her tight against him, Edward was trying to walk at a normal human speed, but he obviously wanted to get to Jacob and I as quick as possible.

He wanted to make sure Bella was still human I thought giving my brother a heads up, it was hardly necessary though, Edward could read Jacob's thoughts as easily as he read mine, but Edward just nodded at me.

"You could have called us," Edward said pointedly

"Sorry I don't have any leeches on my speed dial." Jacob replied

"Yeah, your phone's memory is probably to full, what with the animal shelter, the dog officer, the American Kennel Club, Happy Tails Grooming Saloon, and the World Wildlife Foundation, on speed dial." I shot back, a little offended by Jacob's derogatory remarks, I mean really, calling me a flea how in anyway did I resemble a flea, and what about calling us leeches, Wolf Boy here was one to talk, blood sucker fine…but leech is pushing it.

Edward reached over with the free hand that wasn't hold Bella and put it on my shoulder, as he glared at Jacob, Jacob's glares were directed right at me.

"Chris can you take Alice inside, Jacob and I have some things to discuss." Edward spoke up, not taking his eyes off of Jacob.

"I think I'm better off sticking around Edward." I replied, keeping my own glare locked on Jacob, "I've got a rolled up newspaper in my backpack just in case."

I could've sworn I heard Edward groan at my last comment, he knows I always choose my words carefully and make sure my point gets across and he was certainly worried that was exactly what was about to happen.

Jacob opened his mouth to say something to me, Edward however continued, he wasn't comfortable with either Bella or I sticking around while he confronted Jacob, but he knows I won't bow out when I'm needed, and Bella is just stubborn enough to stick around anyways.

"Very well." He paused and looked at Jacob "you could have reached me at Bella's house, of course." The look of hatred on Jacob's face made me think about flinching just out instinct, but I knew that would solve anything. "This is hardly the place, Jacob. Could we discuss this later?"

"Sure, sure. I'll stop by your crypt after school." Jacob shot back "what's wrong with now?"

"I already know what you came to say," Edward's voice got so low normal humans nearby wouldn't hear him and Bella would have to really listen carefully even as close as she was. "Message delivered. Consider us warned."

Now I growled, Edward's hold on my shoulder tightened as he tried to reassure me, which was going to be tough.

_We were in the right Edward and he knows it!_ I thought angrily, of course my thoughts weren't intentionally angry at my brother, but Edward understood, he looked down at me with his eyes only and silently told me to drop it for now. Something I wasn't really ready to do, but I kept my mouth shut for a minute or two as Bella pushed to find out what had happened over the weekend.

I shouldn't be surprised that Edward hadn't told Bella anything yet, not that I expected him too.

"He didn't tell you that his big…brother and this little Flea crossed the line Saturday night?" Jacob asked simply but sarcastically. "Paul was totally justified in-"

"He was not!" I shouted louder than I meant too at the same time Edward hissed:

"It was no-man's land!"

"Was not!" Jacob replied

"Was too! We did not cross the line you moronic prat! Learn to read a bloody map!" I growled, I felt Bella jump a bit at my anger and I instantly felt bad, but it didn't change the fact I was ready to carry on a long drawn out battle of words with Jacob.

"Chris," Edward spoke up interrupting us "I'll take care of it, go inside now. Marie is waiting for you."

I looked up to where my brother was nodding. Marie had come out of out of the building behind Jacob. She looked curious and concerned at the same time, like she wasn't sure if she should come down to us or run back inside and get a teacher, Alice who had been debating moving towards us had walked up the stairs to Marie.

I really didn't want to leave Edward going solo, but he gave me a gentle push and I gave in.

Seconds before it actually happened, my profile alerted me to Ben's action. I'll admit I was surprised as he put a hand on my shoulder and guided me towards the stairs where Angela and Sarah had now joined Alice and Marie, with one shove he sent me towards the ramp where the girls were waiting.

Ben had been watching the entire scene unfold along with Austin, Tyler, and Mike, more students were gathering to watch. Most of them were kind of hoping for a fight, but surprisingly Austin, Ben, Tyler, and Mike were watching for another reason, to step in and break it up if they had too. It kind of amused me that they thought they could break up a fight if it came down to it, but at the same time I was impressed with their "friendship" with my brother.

Once I was away from the initial argument, I figured I could just watch from afar and step in if I was needed, Alice had other plans, and she literally pushed me into the building as Angela dragged Sarah and Marie inside.

"What the bloody hell Alice?" I hissed but stopped as soon she gave me 'the look'. Sensing the tension, Angela, Marie, and Sarah moved away from us, Angela and Sarah to the cafeteria, while Marie stayed off to the side, waiting for me as she usually did, but giving my sister and I our space. "Edward is out there arguing with…" I couldn't even get the word out, especially now that we were inside and surrounded by well meaning eavesdroppers "I should be out there helping him."

"Chris you were making things worse. I know you didn't mean too, but you were picking a fight."

I started to argue with her, but quickly realized Alice was right, that was the reason she had stayed back when I confronted Jacob and why she had stayed back when Edward and Bella had shown up. Alice was trying to keep Jacob from thinking three vampires were ganging up on him. I had just been to worked up to see that scenario.

"Damn…" I muttered "I was making it worse wasn't I?"

Alice held up her hand so her pointer finger was just touching her thumb

"Just a bit Chris." I couldn't help but glance behind me out the door towards my brother, Bella and Jacob "it'll be fine Chris…"

I had hoped Alice was right, but I spent the entire morning thinking about it, I couldn't let it go. My ability was going over the scenarios like a quick scenes in a movie, it even reached the point where I was questioning the territory…had we been over the line? Was Jacob right, I've been wrong on stuff before, I'm not perfect, no one is.

But I've studied the maps of Forks and LaPush countless times. Carlisle and I sat down at one point and mapped out the area, it was mainly for hunting purposes, we were trying to keep track of where the carnivores and the herbivores tended to congregate the most, for our own sake we were also very detailed on the line that Carlisle and Ephraim Black had agreed. That's what was so frustrating, I knew the area better than most, but in all fairness so should the wolves, they run the line all the time doing patrols to make sure our kind stay off their land. Wouldn't it make sense that the wolves would know just as well, if not better than me exactly where the line boundary is?

My photographic like memory easily pictured the map, but I needed something I could physically hold in my hand, I wanted to look at it carefully. Even though I promised myself I would study it in depth as soon as I got home, it was like a little singsong in the back of my head, it would go away, the very real chance Jacob had been right and we had been very lucky that things did not escalate.

By fourth period, I was making my friends nervous, US History and Calculus it was easy enough to blend in, we had tests in both those classes in preparation for our upcoming finals. Even Phys Ed, my limited attention wasn't noticeable, we were running the mile, a nice slow paced jog was exactly the thing I needed to sort out the confrontation with Jacob. Normally I hate gym, but the mile took up the entire class period, so I just took my time and ran it.

However, it was fourth period when I didn't have a distraction like a test to focus on or a mile run to actually relax. English class Mr. Bertie was actually lecturing and expected all of us to be paying attention. He had to call my name twice before I responded and I was so distracted, I couldn't answer his question at first, until he repeated it a third time, asking me to recite a stanza.

Luckily for me, Sarah was sitting next to me, she nudged me gently and pointed at the line he wanted me to recite, I gave her a half grin, grateful for the help.

When I looked up at Mr. Bertie I kind of expected him to be ready to kill me, he's not the world's most easy going teacher. I mean Jones was cruel and an idiot which is always a bad combination, Bertie is just old fashion and strict, he doesn't take crap from anyone. Instead of the look of death, he was looking at me like a concerned parent or grandparent.

When the bell rang and I gathered up my things I expected Mr. Bertie to inquire about my lack of focus in class, so I wasn't surprised that he gestured for me to come to his desk.

"Mr. Cullen if I may you seem quite distracted today, which is highly unusual for you, is everything all right?"

I adjusted my backpack and nodded

"Yes Mr. Bertie, just feeling a little under the weather." Bertie nodded, "may I have a pass to the nurse?"

Now Bertie smiled

"Of course Mr. Cullen I do hope you feel better soon." He replied writing up a pass for me.

Marie was waiting for me outside the classroom and she looked extremely concerned and put her hand on my arm gently.

"Chris are you okay?" she asked, "it's not like you to be spacing out during English." I nodded "does it have anything to do with that guys your brother and Bella were talking too?"

"Kind of, he's a friend of Bella and Edward thinks he's a little to reckless with Bella."

"Wow," Marie breathed "is he the one who got her the motorcycle."

"Well, she got the motorcycle herself, but he rebuilt it and taught her to ride it. I guess Chief Swan really has an issue with bikes." I paused "anyways, Bella wants to hang out with him, and Edward's kind of deadest against it. If you haven't noticed my brother's a little overprotective."

Marie giggled and nodded. Then she looked at the pass in my hand and looked at me sympathetically

"Are you going to go home sick?"

I shrugged

"I think I can tough it out for another few periods," I crumbled the pass in my hand and tossed it in the hallway recycle bin. I really did want to just get home and look at the map, I also knew that if I didn't I was going to spend the rest of school dwelling on it, but at the same time I really didn't want to explain to Esme why I was suddenly so interested in the maps or why I was so stressed about them.

I may have a short attention span, but when something is bugging me, I tend to lose whatever ADD I may have and become completely nitpicky on it. I dunno maybe it is a little OCD, I'm pretty sure it's hereditary because I know my dad was the same way when it came to finding a solution to something that was bothering him he would not let it go, like the first time I beat him at chess, he spent weeks going over our game and each move I made to figure out where he went wrong and how I won, then again it might've had something to do with the fact that I was six.

It would just be normal to assume that becoming a vampire might make OCD or ADD or whatever, go away, I'm pretty sure it not only intensified it, but may be the basis for my ability, an attention to detail.

I knew I had to just deal with it for now, ignore it as best I could and figure it out when I got home, besides, the next class was Spanish and if I know Mr. King the Spanish teacher, I was not going to be able to sit back and relax during class nor would I be able to be completed distracted and off in my own world.

He's a nice guy and all and a decent teacher in the normal sense, but his background in Spanish is limited to being a tourist and knowing the basics of the language.

Like I said he's a decent teacher, but he's a chemistry teacher who was asked to fill in for the Spanish teacher after she went on maternity leave in September.

I had expected to come back to Forks High school and find that they hired an actual long term sub so that Mr. King could go back to teaching what he knows and what he is obviously more comfortable in. But the school felt he was doing a decent enough job apparently and asked him to stick it out for the rest of the year until the actual Spanish teacher returns. Mr. King who didn't want to turn the school down agreed, but again I make the argument he speaks the language well enough to converse, but, teaching it, well that's another story.

Usually I have to help him along. I blame the entire situation on myself, I was the idiot who opened his big fat mouth and clued Mr. King into the fact that while I can speak French, do to their similarity, I can also speak Spanish pretty well, better than most.

For the first time at least I had experienced, Mr. King was out and we actually had a sub, who spoke FLUENT Spanish and was willing to follow Mr. King's lesson plan, To say that I was thrilled for class would be one helluv an understatement.

When lunch finally rolled around, I was actually feeling a bit better, I still wanted to get home and look at the maps, but it wasn't as much a priority as it had been earlier in the day. Instead of sitting at the senior table like I usually do, I joined my small group of friends with Marie.

I wasn't sure how much if anything Edward had told Bella and I was a little worried she would pester me for details, since she knows Alice won't blab, but there is always a possibility that I might. Us freshmen in King's Spanish class usually beat everyone else to lunch, including Bella, Edward, and Alice and today was no different.

When they walked into the cafeteria the look on Bella's face told me two things, first that Edward had told Bella why exactly he took her to Florida and what had happened here in Forks while they had been gone, and two Bella was not a happy camper about what had occurred over the weekend.

She looked over at our table and caught me profiling her; she narrowed her eyes a bit. I could clearly see she wasn't pleased with us, but I wasn't in as much trouble as my brother. She was waiting for an explanation of some sorts, one that I would have to give later, so to at least start I mouthed 'I'm sorry' before I shrugged and turned my attention back to the discussion at my table, the stupid dance…to be honest I think I'd rather face the wolves and Bella's wrath than listen to the guys complaining about the dance, while Marie and the other girls just sat there and giggled.


	7. Chapter 7

I was surprised when Alice and I got home that Esme wasn't home. Usually she's at the door waiting for us to come in, it's kind of silly, but she loves being there when we come home from school. Esme wasn't there, neither was Emmett or Rose, Carlisle still had an hour of his shift left so we weren't expecting him, but Jasper wasn't home either.

I looked over at Alice who shrugged

"Did we forget something or miss something?" I asked my sister Alice didn't get a chance to answer me as EVERYONE came home, and when I say everyone, I mean everyone including Bella and Edward. Esme and Rose must have gone shopping because both were carrying various bags, I'm not quite sure where my brothers went and I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

I knew the look on Bella's face meant one thing, she wanted to know what had occurred over the weekend, in other words, family meeting.

We waited of course until Carlisle returned home. To pass the time, Emmett took charge of the TV and channel surfed. Bella surprisingly sat down in between Alice and I, while Edward stared at us in disbelief. I couldn't be sure, but I do believe that Edward was on Bella's 'list' for his Florida stunt. I couldn't exactly tell if Bella would have been better off knowing why Edward was hiding her in Florida for the weekend or if she would've been angry with him either way.

Emmett began laughing hard as he stumbled upon a movie, I didn't even need him to go to info to figure it out, the cow flying by the red truck was the only clue I needed, Emmett had found Twister. As the twister in the movie died down leaving the three actors stunned in the cab of the truck, Emmett leaned over to me

"So Kid, here's a thought would it be fun to be sucked up by a twister." He asked a look on his face that told me he was dead serious. I slapped my forehead as Bella looked down at me

"Seriously Emmett?"

"Yeah,"

"I'm sure as a human it would hurt like hell before dying."

"Yeah but what if it was one of us? I mean it's just an idea."

"Why you asking me anyways, Jasper's the one from Texas, he could probably tell you better if he's ever seen one of us get sucked up." I wasn't entirely sure if this conversation was meant to be funny or not, I could read Emmett's face he thought it was funny, but at the same time I could also see his genuine curiosity.

Jasper glanced over at the two of us from the movie and shook his head, clearly he wanted to stay out of this conversation for as long as possible. Bella however was apparently amused, Emmett and I have always made her laugh and this time was no different as she tried to hold back giggles.

"Okay well here's another thought, the end of the movie." Emmett changed subjects

"You mean the part that's still like an hour and four tornados away?" I asked and he nodded

"Yeah that, so when they're strapped in that outhouse thing and the twister comes out like roar and rips the outhouse apart leaving just Helen Hunt and what's his name-"

"Bill Paxton?" Bella answered before I could and I grinned at her, she shrugged "I have no idea why I knew that."

"Yeah him! Anyways, how the heck could they survive flapping in the tornado held down by giant rubber bands?"

"Well to quote the movie, the pipes went down at least 50 feet." I spoke up, sarcastically.

"Exactly my point, how is that physically possible?"

"It's not Emmett," I replied "its called Hollywood."

Emmett got this gleam in his eyes and I could only groan at what I was sure he wanted, Emmett tends to be pretty easy to profile and he has yet to disappoint me.

"I think we should experiment sometime. Y'know recreate that scene like on Mythbusters."

Ah yes, Mythbusters, Emmett's latest obsession, he's fascinated by the experiments those guys do and while I enjoy the show myself, I felt like Emmett was taking it a bit to far, and I hate to admit it, but he actually irked my curiosity and a tiny part of me wanted to know if what he was thinking was plausible.

Thankfully I didn't get a chance to hear anymore of his plans for the moment as Carlisle came home. He was a little dumbfounded by the gathering in the living room and looked at me first, before exchanging a look with Esme. For some reason I was automatically involved and I'm not entirely sure if I should feel a little put out by that fact or just go with the humor in the situation.

"Family meeting I assume?" Carlisle asked, a hint of amusement in his voice, Edward crossed his arms over his chest and looked over at Bella who gave the look right back to him, it was actually amusing to see Bella not giving into Edward's looks. "Ah, well, let me put some things into my office and we can all meet in the dining room?"

Edward seemed to want to delay this meeting as long as possible so he nodded, and Bella, well she didn't really have a choice in that particular matter. While everyone else trudged towards the dining room, Emmett groaning about missing the rest of the movie, even after I reminded him that we own it, I followed Esme into the kitchen.

Since Bella has become a regular fixture around our house, Esme has taken to stalking up on certain grocery items, canned goods, snack foods, things of that sort. So when I found her in the kitchen, Esme was putting some cookies on a plate and pouring Bella a glass of milk. I wasn't entirely sure Bella would be in the mood for anything other than answers, but who was I to put a damper on Esme's mothering moment.

"Oh good, Christian here you bring these to Bella, I'll be in momentarily."

"Sure mum," I replied trying not to laugh as I carried Bella's milk and cookies into the dining room. I waited for the comments to come and Emmett and Jasper didn't disappoint.

"Aw, lookie!" Emmett cooed "Chrissy has a snack!"

Jasper, who is a lot more mature than Emmett (or even me at some points) could ever hope to be, just grinned

"Going to share?" he asked in a serious tone, which didn't go well with the giant grin on his face.

I rolled my eyes and put the plate and glass down in front of Bella, she raised her eyebrow at me suspiciously, like I was trying to bribe her with cookies. Instead of explaining anything to her, I simply pointed at the cookies, grinned and headed over to my usual seat in between Alice, and where Esme would sit.

Once Esme and Carlisle had joined the table (I'm sure they were having a quick meeting in the kitchen about what to tell and what not to tell Bella), everyone kind of exchanged looks with each other. No one wanted to be the first to speak and no one was really sure where to begin. I think we were all thankful when Carlisle cleared his throat, getting the ball rolling so to speak.

"First off Bella, our intent was not to deceive you this past weekend and further more our only goal was to make sure everyone involved was safe."

"Edward's probably told you the main premise of what went on this weekend right?" I asked and Bella nodded a slight scowl on her face.

As amused, as I was with that, in all fairness, Edward had done what he thought was the best way to protect Bella and no one could fault him on that, at least not this time.

"Yes, in a cliff notes version."

"Better than nothing" Emmett snickered "Everything that happened this weekend was done to assure everyone's safety, we had to find the best way to make sure the town was safe, you were safe, and" Bella started to say Charlie's name, but I was already on that path "and Charlie, he was perfectly safe. The wolves were protecting their territory as we were protecting ours and boundary lines got a little mixed up, that was no one individuals fault, the wolves were doing what they thought was best to protect the reservation."

"It was still an risk that none of you should have taken. I shouldn't need you guys to protect me every waking minute. If I was one of you now I would be less of a liability."

"You're not a liability." Esme reprimanded gently

"of course you're not," Carlisle added

"Well, regardless if Victoria attacks again wouldn't it be in everyone's best interest if I was one of you." Bella argued

I could've slapped my forehead, Bella was completely one tracked on becoming a vampire. Even though Alice had seen it happening and even though I had voted on yes to her becoming one of us, we wanted to put it off as long as possible, that was the one thing most of us agreed on, excluding Rosalie and Edward neither of who wanted it to happen at all, each for their own reason of course.

Edward wanted Bella to enjoy as many human experiences as possible before she was damned to immortality and that was completely understandable. I found it hilarious Edward's terms for Bella becoming a vampire early, she had to marry him; the alternative was Carlisle would do it after graduation in a few weeks.

The main argument that always kept Bella thinking about her decision was the mention of Charlie. It would be easy for Bella to fade away from his life after graduations, even closer to the fall when she would be "starting" school at some far away university. But Bella's constant pushing at it happening earlier could always be unhinged if Charlie was mentioned.

We knew it would devastate him if he lost Bella early. Then there was one thing that I had considered that no one else seemed to have considered, the wolves. They knew what we Cullens were, if Bella Swan went missing all of a sudden before high school graduation there would be only one explanation the wolves would come too, she had been bitten; either killed by one of us or changed by one of us.

Personally I wasn't thinking of the treaty, after all, that sucker had been broken when Carlisle changed me, but the wolves didn't know that. All of our coming actions had to be planned accordingly; we could very well start a war with the wolves if we didn't do this the correct way. If we didn't, we might end up with a scene straight out of a 30s horror movie, the villagers storming our house with pitch forks and torches, led by a pack of shape-shifting Indians.

I felt eyes boring into my skull and looked over at the source. Edward of course had just seen everything I had profiled and it just made him that much more nervous. After exchanging a look, we both simultaneously looked over at Bella who seemed to be considering everyone's words carefully.

"There are eight of us Bella, and with Alice and Chris on our side, I don't believe Victoria is going to catch us off guard again. I think it's important for Charlie's sake that we stick to the original plan." Carlisle offered and Bella took a deep breath

"We'd never allow anything to happen to you sweetheart. You know that. Please don't be anxious," Esme added kissing Bella on the forehead

"Carlisle and Esme are right," Jasper spoke up "we know her game now, you are perfectly safe."

"Yeah," Emmett exclaimed "and seriously Bella, I'm really glad Edward didn't kill you. Everything's been so much more fun with you around."

I nearly burst out laughing at that, even with Rosalie glaring at the both of us. Alice however had this hurt look on her face, I know it was real, but she was milking it for all she could.

"I'm offended. You're not honestly _worried_ about this are you?"

"If it's no big deal." Bella countered "then why did Edward drag me to Florida?"

"'Cause he really wanted to find Mickey Mouse?" I whispered, Emmett and Jasper burst out laughing as Rosalie's glare intensified and Bella, Alice, and Edward joined her.

"Havent you noticed yet Bella, that Edward is just the teeniest bit prone to overreaction?" Alice asked, ignoring the three of us. Bella started to argue to that when I knew I had to say my piece and be done with it. Of course, key point number one, get Bella to laugh or at least smile.

"Edward overreact? Just a wee bit m'lady." I allowed myself to slip back into my accent, it set Emmett and Jasper off again, this time laughing at my accent, but it would be worth it in the end. Once I got at least a smile out of Bella I went serious "do you know what the phrase vous êtes notre soeur' means"

Bella shook her head "no" she said honestly

"well, how about haud ignota loquor?" I grinned as Bella shook her head again "well the first thing I said was French, and it means you are our sister. The second thing I said is Latin, roughly translated it means I speak not of unknown things. So in other words Bella, calm down, everything will be fine and will work out, I wouldn't say we'd be fine if it wasn't the truth, trust the profiler, we give the straight facts no hesitation no falsehood." I paused "please don't become like Edward, if he was human his hair would be gray and falling out from all the overreacting and stress he puts himself under."

That did it, that was all I needed as Bella started to laugh a bit, especially when Edward reached over and tried to give me a push off my chair. Luckily I was expecting it and easily moved to one side so he promptly missed.

xxx

Bella decided to stay at the house for a little longer, I don't think she was really ready to go face Charlie, which actually worked in my favor.

It was not lost on anyone in the family that Bella looked extremely disappointed that she was leaving the Cullen house still human. As much as I liked the idea of Bella joining our family and Edward finally getting back to normal, I did have to agree with Rosalie about how Bella wanted to go about it, Rose's biggest issue was that Bella thought regarding her own life.

Rosalie has always been particular when she sees people taking their life for granted, something all of us know to well, so no one can really blame Rose on how she feels. I had to agree, it really did feel like Bella was taking her life for granted, like she felt there was nothing important about her human life so the only option was to become a vampire. I didn't like that at all, it felt wrong and I knew I had to say something to Bella, privately, I had to find a way to just help her to understand something.

She had returned to the couch with Edward, Alice, Emmett, and Jasper and all five of them looked up at me when I walked into the family room.

"Hey Bella can I show you something?" I asked, she looked over at Edward for a brief second before she stood up and followed me upstairs. As we climbed the stairs I felt Bella looking over at me, obviously confused. When we finally reached my room I offered Bella the choice of chairs and she took my computer chair.

"So, is everything okay Chris?" she asked as I sat down on my window seat Indian style, leaning against the window.

I was trying not to worry or scare Bella, but I had to get this off my chest, her apparent disregard for her own human life was one thing, but the fact she kept forgetting about others made me just that much more determined to talk to her.

"Bella-" I started to say

"Chris are you regretting your vote?"

"No of course not, I meant every word that I said, but I just wanted to make sure you completely understand the retributions that will come from it." I paused "how much as Edward really told you about me coming into this life?" When Bella didn't answer right away I grinned, "you know the basics right, Second World War, Blitz, Luftwaffe, Chris being an idiot?"

Now Bella nodded, unsure if she should smile at that last part, which she should've I put it in there to lighten the mood a bit, apparently it didn't work.

"That he did tell me, about how you were heading home from school, the bombing started you took cover under some rubble and were nearly crushed to death."

"Exactly, I was brought to the hospital Carlisle was volunteering at, and he took a chance with me to turn me. It was like fate was giving me a second chance, the Germans had basically picked me to die and I had the chance to live…I was a kid, who didn't look that far in the future, I saw what was going on right then and there." I paused "I said yes Bella, when Carlisle asked me if I was willing for him to save my life by turning me into a vampire I told him I trusted him and allowed him to turn me." I took a deep breath "I was near death Bella, eternal sleep was the only thing that was certainly coming my way."

"Do you regret Carlisle changing you?" Bella asked, she obliviously thought that was my purpose in the story.

I shook my head quickly

"Never, like I said Bella, my only option was death. If I had told Carlisle no, I would've died within hours. I didn't want to die, I wanted to live, I was surrounded by death on a daily basis. I lost a lot of friends in the month or so leading up to my turn. I was a kid Bella, I didn't want to die I didn't want to be just another causality the war, when someone is offering you life when death is the only thing that's certain, you will take life."

"You must have been scared."

"I was terrified, who wouldn't be, even after Carlisle started the process there was a tiny thought in the back of my head, making me wonder if I had made the right decision, was becoming a vampire better than death.. You had a taste of that fear last year when the tracker bit you, right? You felt that pain and the uncertainty, believe me there isn't one of us who doesn't remember that feeling, some just choose to ignore it." I looked right at Bella "do you know why I'm telling you all this?"

Bella shook her head

"Not really Chris,"

"There's one part of my story that Edward probably left out, that everyone tends to leave out."

Bella raised an eyebrow and looked very confused

"What's that?"

"What happened afterwards, what happened after Carlisle turned me and the transformation was complete."

"What do you mean?"

"My parents Bella, my human parents, I couldn't just forget about them. I was wrecked with guilt in the days following my transformation. As any of us what we remember about our parents and I guarantee you'll see the reaction in everyone's eyes, a look of sadness and regret as they try to remember them and are either unable to or are able to. The main difference between me and my siblings is my age. I wasn't ready to leave my parents I was still a kid. I may have talked about running off to fight in the war and to take charge as the man of the house while my father was on the front lines, but deep inside I was a kid who just wanted to stay that way. I was an only child just like you and I loved my parents and just wanted to be with them for as long as possible."

Bella had actually moved to the edge of her seat and I could see the look of sorrow in her eyes, I was hitting the exact nerve I wanted to.

"I didn't know Chris, I didn't even think-" she said softly and I smiled gently

"It's okay Bella, it's all part of the problem of being the youngest in the family. Edward was a year from enlistment age, Jasper was a major in the confederate army, Rose was engaged, even Emmett had moved away from childhood clinginess to his parents, everyone kind of forgets that I wasn't at that age yet, I wasn't even close, I was thirteen. I may not have admitted it out-loud, but I wanted nothing more than to be with my mum and dad." I paused "so a few days after everything was complete, I began pestering Carlisle. I asked him constantly to allow me to see my mother, even from afar. I couldn't grasp the fact that it was dangerous to go see her, that I might very well attack my mother. I was a newborn vampire with a thirst that was barely controlled. I countered with every argument I could think of, but Carlisle stayed firm. He knew the danger even if I couldn't see it."

"What happened?"

"I finally convinced Carlisle to at least go speak to my mother. I couldn't live an eternity with the thought that she believed I may still be alive. I wanted him to tell her I was dead." I took a deep breath "but it reached the point after he left for the city, that I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to see my mother." I put my head down. "I had this incredible guilt eating away at me, not only had I abandoned my mother during a war, but I had gone against my father's strict order to watch over her. Added to that…I had done something the last time I had seen my mother that even to this day hurts when I think about it."

Bella's confusion grew as she looked at me

"What was that?"

"That morning, right before I left for school my mother was fussing over me. Trying to get me to wear my scarf, fixing my uniform, the whole lot of it. My friends were waiting on the walkway for me, mum was trying to something off my face that I insisted wasn't there. The final straw was her telling me she loved me, right in front of my friends. I was so embarrassed that I pretended I hadn't heard her, then she said it again louder this time only in Gaelic, which was even worse in my mind. I had been teased and ridiculed relentlessly when we first moved to London from Scotland because I spoke Gaelic as well as English, I was not prepared to face that again. I waved goodbye to her and took off with my friends. My mother said goodbye to me, told me she loved me twice and I assumed I would have the chance to say it back to her and hug her when I returned home from school later in the day. I never thought that I wouldn't get the chance, that my life as I knew it was going to end and I would never speak to my mother again."

I certainly meant to leave an impression on Bella and make her think about her own future. The last thing I wanted to do was make her cry, but that was exactly what she was doing, I could see the tears streaming down her face.

"I…" she started to say, but couldn't finish the sentence.

I figured I would just finish the story, I was nearly done anyway, I had already hit a nerve, I could see that.

"Carlisle left Edward in charge of me while he returned to the city to deliver my message to my mother. I begged and pleaded with him to take me to London, so I could at least see my mother, my plan was to get to the city and talk to my mother I had it in my mind that I was super human, Superman, I could not only protect my mother, but protect London, I could end the war easily by myself. Edward of course refused to give in, he read my thoughts he knew what I wanted to really do and he wouldn't give in. So I took matters into my own hands, I bolted, catching him off guard. Of course he tackled me easily. I'm pretty fast Bella, and as a newborn I was couldnt be caught, but I was also unsure where I was and lack of direction slowed me down. Edward knew the real reason Carlisle didn't want me to see my mother and it had nothing to do with safety. I was pretty strong willed for a newborn so that wasn't the problem."

"What was?"

"Guilt." I answered "I convinced Edward with certain specifications to take me to London. He did, reluctantly and as soon as I saw my mother, from the street in front of our house and the pain on her face, the pain that I had put there. I understood instantly what Edward and Carlisle had meant by guilt, her pain was my fault. Carlisle hadn't wanted the last image of my mother I had, to be this. But I had to weigh the lesser of two evils, what was worse in my mind the guilt of what I had done to my mother before I left forever, or the guilt of what I was witnessing." I paused "I never got to say goodbye to my mother, that was the last time I ever saw her I never saw my father again. The last time I saw him was when he enlisted to the front as a medic. Both my parents were dead less six months after I joined the Cullens. My father was killed protecting Saint Paul's Cathedral when the German's began bombing it right after Christmas, my mother was dead a few months later, she just died no explanation." I paused once more.

I felt a lump form in my throat, even all these years later talking about my parents and the truth surrounding their deaths was tough.

I had done so much to separate myself from their deaths, it was a different lifetime a different world, and yet, they were my parents, my world, I had lost them without saying goodbye. I wanted Bella to understand so much, mainly, what she would give up, who would be hurt, and the loss at stack with her decision.

I wanted her to realize that her decision couldn't be rash, I 'd had no choice, she did. Carlisle had said it to me, Edward had said it to me, immortality comes with a price, you have to be willing to pay that price even if you might regret it later on, because you will regret it in some way, there will always be an inkling in the back of your mind 'did I make the right decision'.

"Oh Chris…" Bella sniffed

"Bella, I'm not telling you this to hurt you or to change your mind about becoming one of us. I said it before, you are already my sister nothing will change that. I just wanted you to realize what you will leave behind. You keep insisting that it happen right away, but you need to think of those around you who you will leave behind. Your friends, your family, you will never see them again, they will continue to live their human lives and that will include their human deaths. It's inevitable Bella. Just remember what I told you, don't take people around you for granted. I would give anything including my immortality just for the chance to hug my mother again and tell her over and over I love her and I'm sorry."

I reached over to my wall and took down a framed photograph. It was one of the few things I had recovered from my house when Carlisle and I went there the last time in 1948. A photograph of my parents and me in front of our parlor, smiles all around a serious photograph that turned humorous on account of my father. I handed it over to Bella, she stared at it, tears still streaming down her face.

"Your parents?" she asked rhetorically and I nodded taking a deep, calming breath. I couldn't cry it was physically impossible, but I still felt the emotions and the sadness, especially at seeing how Bella was reacting. I knew I had done what I had intended, I had made Bella listen at least for the moment.

"The last photo of us together, it was taken right before Germany invaded Poland, literally days before Great Britain declared war on Germany. It's the only way I've been able to really remember them, my memory is sharp, but if I didn't have this photograph I wouldn't remember what my parents looked like. You don't want to have that on your mind, thinking you have eternity to accrue memories of those close to you, 'cause you never know when it all comes crashing down."

I left it at that, I didn't say her parents' names, there was no need, Bella obviously understood the main premise for my story. Bella stood up slowly, walked over to me, and hugged me tight.

"Thank you Chris." She said softly handing the photograph back to me.

"You're welcome Bella." I replied, giving her a half grin.

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A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating, things have gotten crazy with school, projects, etc. I promise I'm going to try and keep this updated regularly but thank you everyone for sticking this out with me and dealing with it. I hope this chapter wasnt too mushy I was a little concerned about it, but I wanted the scene between Bella and Chris to occur like that so hopefully everyone enjoyed it. Next chapter up as soon as I can I'm working really hard to get it done. I hope everyone has a happy Halloween! Take Care everyone!


	8. Chapter 8

After Edward had left with Bella, bringing her home, everyone else kind of dispersed, off to do their own thing.

My plan was to go about doing what I had planned on doing when I got home, have a look at the boundary maps. Call it stubbornness, call it part of my ability, but when I know I'm right about something, I tend to go into overdrive trying to prove that I'm right. I will go about and find whatever documentation, witness statements, what have you, whatever I need to do to prove I'm right.

But as I was heading towards Carlisle's office, I kept thinking about Bella and what I had just told her. The conversation with her I'd had, well it gave me a new sense of where we stand with one another. I've seen Bella as my sister for a long time now, but we've never really had an opportunity (or a need, at least on my part) to share stuff, especially on the level I had just done. Granted the connection we have now is a far cry from the fear I had of her when she first moved to Forks and started on the path to intertwine with our family, but even so I've never opened up with her and I still maintain a sort of distance with her.

I've always kind of been a background player, an extra if you will throughout her interaction with my family, especially in the beginning, the summer, and of course the week or so leading up to the disastrous birthday which caused us to move in the first place.

This was not done intentionally on anyone's part; it's just another piece that plays into my ability. As a profiler I see things in a different light, so I tend to sit in the background or off to the side and observe before I interact. There are so many players in my family, it's easy for me as the youngest to get kind of lost in the shuffle, I'm okay with that, I really am I have no problem with others taking the spotlight. I like doing what I do from behind the scenes.

Alice has always had a big part to play, as well as Edward of course, and Carlisle and Esme. Jasper tries to hide in the background with me but that ship sailed during Bella's birthday party he gives Bella a small glimpse into the life of what most of our kind are like, the blood sucking creatures from folklore, he's there to show her that yes that life is a possibility, but at the same time, he shows Bella that it is possible to overcome it, which is what Jasper has done.

Emmett is the comic relief, the big brother that Bella never had who will always be there to make her laugh, he shows Bella that it is possible to be happy and enjoy our immortality, a counteraction of Rose's attitude towards it.

Speaking of Rose…Rose is the self appointed arch enemy. Her jealousy of Bella is mind boggling sometimes and just as amusing, but I know my sister, she respects Bella and is fighting with herself to do away with the 'I do not like you' persona, I just haven't gotten her to admit it, in some ways (and if Rose ever finds out about this comparison I will be a dead man) sometimes to me Rose's inner fight regarding Bella is like Gollum's fight with himself in the Hobbit and more importantly Lord of the Rings. The lengthy arguments he has with his own, I guess conscience is comical in one sense, but a very real inner struggle, one that I'm pretty sure Rose goes through often enough.

Then there's me, what exactly do I bring into Bella's life? I may joke around with Emmett and make her laugh, but I'm not the comic relief. I'm not in love with her and determined to protect her from the world like Edward, I'd do anything in my ability to protect her of course, but that goes along with I generally care about her wellbeing. Even for my ability it is tough for me to see my part to play in Bella's world.

But by opening myself up to Bella like I had just done, it gave me some hope that hopefully I can figure out my position in Bella's life, I'm perfectly happy if I just move into the spot of little brother.

I also know that I can act as her conscience too, sorta. My ability is something like that, I give scenarios of how things may play out and my family has to take what they hear and use it as they feel. My hunches are mere suggestions, they are not fact and they are not set in stone.

As I dug through the maps and charts in Carlisle's office, the conversation with Bella played over and over, fresh in my mind. I had given her something to think about; I had struck her conscience and had done so without trying to sway her, but with the only goal of giving her all the facts. Maybe that was my place, oh Bloody Hell I was Jiminy Cricket.

I groaned and slid into Carlisle's thick desk chair, the piles of paper all about. I hoped for a second that if Edward hears that in my thoughts he knows that he is never to tell Emmett, I would never hear the end of it.

I heard the floorboards creak from just outside the room pulling me out of my profile. I knew Carlisle was heading into his office.

I peered over the mounds to look at him, the pile of papers in front of me was nearly my height. Who knew my parents had accumulated this much…crap?

"Christian?" Carlisle asked from the doorway, I grinned a little sheepishly. "Do I dare ask?"

"I was…er." No point in lying "I was looking over the boundary markers I wanted to make sure that the fleabags were wrong."

The insult felt raw on my tongue and wrong to say, the term fleabags should've been comical, it was something my father always called our neighbor's cat who was as mangy and flea ridden as they come.

But after being called a flea and a leech by Jacob, I knew the once funny term fleabag had joined a list of derogatory terms for the wolves, just as they clearly had some for us vampires.

"Chris I think the adrenaline of the chase had everyone mixed up including the pack. I do not think they would have threatened us deliberately unless they truly felt we were encroaching on their land." Carlisle said gently, he nodded for me to stay in his seat as he took one of the side chairs.

"Which we weren't" I replied, "did Edward tell you-"

"That Jacob Black made an unannounced visit to the high school?" I nodded "yes he did tell me, he also mentioned you had some words with Jacob?"

"Nothing nasty dad, I was just informing him of his mistake." Carlisle groaned a little and I shrugged "anyways it got me thinking that maybe I was wrong on the line and I just wanted to be sure."

Carlisle reached to his desk and pulled out one of the maps. My hand writing and his was all over the thing. It was a general map of Washington State; I had marked where certain critters tended to congregate more often, where there was an abundance of those certain critters, that sort of thing. But prior to my markings, Carlisle had drawn territory lines, mainly the Quileute's line and ours.

"Chris, look here is the river, we were near the boundary, but we had not crossed it yet, you know that boundary better than anyone." Carlisle said

"Yeah I know, but being that close to the line, it was possible I made a mistake." I looked at the map closely "I gotta check for myself," I grabbed the map off of Carlisle's desk and made a beeline for the door.

Behind me, Carlisle stood up quickly,

"Christian," he said, a warning tone in his voice

"I'll be careful dad I promise." I replied bolting out of his office, not wanting to wait for him to forbid me to go. I know Carlisle wanted to, but he knows that once I get something in my head, I don't usually let it go.

Emmett was in the family room watching a baseball game, he glanced up as I walked quickly past him.

"Hey kid want-" he started to ask and I shook my head

"Sorry Em, I gotta check something out. Carlisle knows, don't tell Esme though." The last thing I needed was Esme to be panicking; she gets scary when she panics.

"If you don't want mom to know it's got to be something she'd say no to. Don't get do anything I wouldn't do." Em replied chuckling and I forced a grin, if only he knew.

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I ran as fast as I could through the forest, it's one of my favorite parts about being a vampire, I love the speed I have, it's a great kind of freedom that always makes me feel better.

Dodging trees, bushes, and the occasional animal, leaping over streams and boulders running towards the boundary line, I felt so much weight lifted off my shoulders as I ran faster and faster.

I slowed to a jog when I got closer to the river, not far from the overhang that we had all stopped on while Emmett had kept going. I inched closer to the edge and lowered myself down so I was sitting on the overhang with my feet dangling. I pulled out the map out of my pocket and looked it over carefully. The map was drawn by Carlisle himself in the 30s, after the treaty with the pack. He marked the exact line separating wolf territory and technically Cullen territory, and it was detailed. I hadn't come here with the map in a few decades, and that had just been for my own curiosity.

Now I was studying it to prove I was right and judging by the map and what I was seeing, I was…I was right. The riverbank marked our territory, Emmett had not been on wolf land, Edward was right it was no-man's land, it was the in-between area, the wolves had no claim over it and neither did we.

I grinned victoriously

"Hah I knew I was right!" I shouted louder than I really meant to. It didn't really matter, who was going to hear me anyways, a few birds and squirrels?

A noise caught my attention and I was on my feet in a second, scanning the forest for the source of the noise.

Nothing looked out of the ordinary, at least not at first, but my sharp senses and my ability zeroed in on a section, just past the river, just over the line in wolf territory.

I could see a dark shape lurking through the trees and I crouched down, sliding back into the woods on the other side. I wouldn't be completely out of sight, and if it was actually a wolf he'd be able to smell me anyways, but I was hoping I would at least have the upper hand.

I felt the emotions before I heard the movement behind me. A mix of surprise and fear and it was not entirely animal…it was a wolf. I tensed up as it came closer, a low growling noise that sent a shiver down my spine. It didn't make any sense, I wasn't remotely near the line, I was in the clear, this wolf was coming up from behind me, and it was coming from our territory.

Slowly I turned around, taking a deep breath as I went. I wasn't sure which wolf I was going to run into. To be honest I was hoping for Jacob, he'd be the only one of the pack I could reason with.

The wolf that had led the standoff with Emmett, Rose, and I was definitely not one to play fair, I think given the chance he would've killed all three of us. I think we were pretty lucky that their leader Sam kept them all on a pretty short leash, except Jacob really who seemed to do things his own way.

This wolf wasn't Jacob though; I had never seen this particular guy before. His fur was a sandy color and he was definitely younger than the other wolves, almost…to be honest puppy like. He seemed unsteady on his paws and unsure of what he was doing. He also seemed genuinely surprised to see me, not only that, he was a little terrified.

I think we were both were feeling the same level of fear about each other, both of us were waiting for the other to attack and were sizing the other up. He must have just been allowed out on patrol of the line and caught my scent or heard me acting like an idiot and followed me here. He obviously thought I was a threat and needed to be taken care of, some random vampire that had stumbled into the area.

I put my hands up in surrender and slowly got to my feet, I knew making a sudden move was a bad idea, but my mind was going through all possible scenarios and escape routes, each one worse than the previous.

"I'm not on your land, I swear. I wasn't trying to cross over; I was just checking something out. No harm was intended I promise. I come in peace; I'm Chris Cullen, Dr. Cullen's son. We have a treaty with you guys, we stay off your land, your boundary is over there." My voice was shaking and I tried to calm down,

The wolf got down low and started growling louder than before. I winced a little, my instinct to protect myself was getting stronger, I knew if I had to I would defend myself no matter the cost, but I was really fighting it.

Despite the fact this guy was clearly a newbie at this whole thing, and despite the fact that I could probably take him down, I didn't want to. I could feel it, he's a kid, not much different then me. I don't really see the other pack members as kids, to me they're barely teenagers, even Jacob I find it hard to see him as a kid, I never get that from the profile, I see them as adults.

It's the same way with my brothers, Emmett and Jasper especially; I have a hard time seeing them as teens, even in school. But I could sense it with this one; he's a kid, my physical age, give or take a year or so. Hell we could be classmates under different circumstances. He was much smaller than the other wolves and acted different then they did.

Normally my first option would be to bolt, I didn't want to fight this guy, but he was blocking my path, he had me cornered on this cliff. I had other escape options of course, but I didn't want to make a sudden move. The last thing I needed was for him to see any movement on my part as a threat and cast the standoff aside.

Bloody Hell this sucks_._ I've really got to stop getting myself into crap like this, maybe Bella isnt the trouble magnet maybe I am.

The wolf got lower, he was preparing to pounce I know that body language, I started to back up slowly, he was going to attack. Just as I expected he lunged at me, trying to tackle me to the ground, but I was prepared for something like that so I easily slid to the side to avoid the attack, his attacks were uncoordinated and certainly not thought out, I used that to my advantage with my profile.

The wolf dug his claws into the rocks to stop himself from going over the edge as he tried the move again.

Just as I was prepared to counter his second attack he stopped short. He shook his head like he was trying to get something out of his mind. He started to come at me again and stopped in his tracks again, like something was physically preventing him from attacking me. He was clearly not happy with the new development and let me know with a glare and a snort, before he took off into the woods.

I hit the ground, hyperventilating, finally being able to take a breath, I couldn't stop my body from shaking.

I hated to admit it, but I hadn't been scared like that in a long time. I wasn't sure what stopped the wolf from the continued assault, and I was a little concerned and curious as to why. I was also curious as to why he thought he could attack me, when I was clearly away from wolf territory. Did he really not understand when I told him who I was or just not care? I mean I tried to make it clear I wasn't some random vampire in the woods.

It also made me wonder why he was out here in the first place. I hadn't seen him during the whole Victoria fiasco, and if I know real wolves like I do, they typically work in teams or full on packs to hunt or protect, for a single wolf to be out here alone is weird enough, but the fact he was only a kid. Maybe he had gone rogue and decided to show the others what he could do, bag himself a vampire and prove that he could run with the pack.

Whatever the reason, this encounter made it clear that the woods were no longer divided, at least not technically. Either the pack needed to do some serious retraining with its members or we Cullens needed to be more on our guard when out here. If one was willing to attack me here who's to say the rest wouldn't do the same, what if the boundary lines had been abolished some how?

Slowly I got to my feet, my body was still shaking and I hated that feeling. I'm a vampire, I'm not supposed to get scared, for cryin' out loud vampires are supposed to be the ones who scare, not get scared.

If I went back home now, everyone would know that something had happened out here, they'd push and prod until I caved and if I didn't, Edward would take care of that when he got home. What would follow then would not be pretty, Esme would be furious at me, but at the same time she'd be fretting over me.

It was Jasper and Emmett who I was most concerned with though. If they found out a wolf attacked me for no reason, they might be likely to return the favor, with everything else going on right now, the last thing we needed was a war to start over this.

No I was better off avoiding home as long as possible, I had to find something else to do, something else to calm me down. I took a deep breath, ocean it is, I'm going swimming, I need to calm down and think things over.

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	9. Chapter 9

"What's with Bella?" Marie whispered to me as we headed to lunch. I wasn't entirely sure how to answer Marie's question, Bella had been pretty quiet the past week, since Jacob's surprise visit to our school and the events of our weekend tracking turned standoff with the wolves came to light.

Bella was not happy, mainly with Edward. She was determined to be changed sooner then expected and she was not happy that it hadn't happened yet, even after what I had told her.

The positive point was my story made her think, I had hit a nerve and we both knew it, it was the main reason Bella had spent the entire week avoiding me, heck there were times when she couldn't look at me.

Every time I caught her, she looked away quickly, but I saw the tears in her eyes, I'm not an idiot, I know what I had told her was still lingering in her mind. Every time she saw me she thought of what I told her and mainly she thought of her father and how he was going to feel if she up and vanished.

I looked over at Bella, then at Marie and shrugged, as I grabbed a tray for my "lunch", Marie looked at me expectantly

"I don't know," I replied as honest as I could "I think she's finally realizing that graduation is around the corner, I'm surprised it hasn't hit the entire senior class yet."

Marie nodded, accepting my answer even though she wasn't really convinced. As we moved through the line, Marie added things to my limited lunch, such as milk, an apple, and a bowl of vegetables, it was all I could do to prevent her from adding the special of the day, meatloaf, at which I made a face. Marie has a habit of trying to make sure I eat, in that sense she is a lot like her mum.

Once we paid for our lunches we headed towards our table. If Bella wanted to avoid me a little longer that was fine, I would give her that, Marie and I would just sit at our usual freshman table.

The guys were deep in discussion planning their trip into Seattle the following day. Apparently Paul's dad won a number of tickets through his work, ten tickets to the Seattle Mariners game versus the Baltimore Orioles. He told Paul to invite four of his friends and their dads to the game and make it a guys' night out, of course I was included in that, but I'd been hesitant to go.

It had been easy to play on the idea that my oldest brothers were home for the summer and therefore we had planned a camping trip for just the Cullen boys, which translated into, we were going hunting.

My main issue was everything that was happening in Seattle. I was really concerned about the guys going into the city with some psychotic killer running loose, hence my hesitation in flat out saying no to going. Carlisle was of course leaving it up to me and was willing to go if I decided we should go.

"Hey, earth to Chris, come in Chris," I heard Steve calling my name, I shook my head and looked over at him, apparently I had been spacing out and I wondered for how long he actually had been calling my name

"Sorry…what?"

"Busy night?" Nick asked grinning "or a late one?"

"Heh," I replied shrugging "not really, just thinking."

"Man I had a heck of a night, I was up to three this morning playing Call of Duty with my cousin, my uncle is stationed in Tokyo right now so they're living over there, it's so cool. I get to go visit them for a week this summer, but we were playing online for hours, I think he even might have missed a class or two." Patrick spoke up and we all rolled our eyes at him, grinning.

"Anyways, Chris are you sure you don't want to go, it's going be awesome, the tickets are right behind the Mariners dugouts, my dad knows this great restaurant that we're going to hit right before the game." _Great, a restaurant_ I thought _just wonderful_ "come on it'll be fun!" Paul prodded,

"Yeah seriously its going to be a blast come on!" Nick added, "please, how many times do you get to behind the home team dugout? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that you will regret if you miss."

I glanced over at Edward who was only half listening to the conversation. He obviously knew my confliction and gave me a reassuring grin, shrugging. Of course I knew his answer, Edward may not admit out loud, but he is a true blue American teenage boy in a lot of ways, one big way is that he loves baseball as much as he loves music, so his decision is based solely on his desire to go to a baseball game and his belief that everyone should go.

My mind flashed to all the news reports about the murders and kidnappings in Seattle, I needed to hunt, that was clear, but I wouldn't be able to enjoy the weekend hunting with my brothers and father if I was thinking about my pals safety.

If Carlisle and I went to the game, we could easily meet Edward, Emmett, and Jasper in Northern California for the Mountain Lion feast later on.

Going to Seattle for this game would serve two purposes, I could keep Steve, Paul, Patrick, and Nick, as well as their dads in my line of sight and therefore safe, and I could get an early scope on what was going on in Seattle, see if I could profile things a bit, enjoying the baseball game was obviously the last thing on my mind, my profile was going to be in mega overdrive.

I took a deep breath, sighed and rolled my eyes,

"Fine, fine, you guys win, let me go call my dad and ask him if he still wants to go, I got to make sure he's not on call tomorrow, I don't think he is, but I have to be sure."

I pushed my chair back and carried my tray to the trash taking care of that before grabbing my backpack and heading out of the cafeteria to the office to make my phone call.

Inside the office, Mrs. Cope looked as soon as I walked in. She amuses Edward, but she kind of freaks me out, I don't like the way she looks at us Cullen boys, it's creepy.

Today was no exception as she got this look in her eyes when I walked over to her desk. I've never really been able to tell exactly what the look is, some reason it remains hidden from my profile, I do know for a fact that I don't like it and that's enough reason for me.

"Yes what do you need?"

"I was wondering if I could call my dad."

Mrs. Cope pressed a button on the phone and put it up on the counter for me to dial. I dialed Carlisle's office at the hospital and waited patiently for him to pick up, it took two rings before Carlisle answered. He probably got a little nervous seeing Forks High School on the caller ID, after all the school doesn't typically call, the last time Carlisle received a phone call from a school, it was to let him know I had gotten detention last year.

"Er, hello?" he said, I could hear his hesitation over the phone and I tried not to laugh, I really didn't blame him. I turned my back to Mrs. Cope and leaned against the desk.

"Hi dad,"

"Chris? Hello, is everything okay son?"

"Everything's fine dad, I just had a question."

"Yes?"

"Well, Paul spent a good portion of lunch pestering me, they really want us to go to the game tomorrow and if you're still up for it I was wondering could we go? I mean I'm thinking those guys in the city, who knows what kind of trouble they can get into, I should be there to be a voice of reason."

I laughed it off of course, but I knew Carlisle would get my meaning. I couldn't come out and say I wanted to go to Seattle with my friends so I can make sure they don't get themselves kidnapped or killed, not with Mrs. Cope's eyes boring into my back, but of course my father understood.

"I'm glad you changed your mind Chris, I know its not a Cricket match, but you do enjoy baseball thanks to your brothers and from what I've heard, Mr. Cooper has some decent seats."

"So you're okay with going?"

"Of course Chris, it will be fun, we'll talk about it when we get home, how about I pick you up and we can discuss our plans, my shift is over at 2, I'll give Mr. Cooper a call right now and make sure everything is arranged."

I grinned

"Cool, I'll let Edward know." I paused "thanks dad,"

"Anytime son,"

I hung up the phone and handed it back to Mrs. Cope,

"Thanks for letting me use the phone," I said as I headed out of the office and into the hall.

The lunch bell rang and the hordes swarmed the hall, I tried to avoid getting swept up in the mob as I moved down the hall towards my next class. I was about five doors from it when I felt a hand grab my shoulder and pull me off to the side. It was Edward; Bella gave me a quick smile before darting into her own class. I rolled my eyes, she really was avoiding me, quite effectively too.

"So going to the game tomorrow?" Edward asked grinning, he of course knew my real reason for going to the game so I rolled my eyes at him.

"As a matter of fact yeah, good seats, good friends."

"The chance to profile?"

"That's beside the point, you're just jealous that you're not going to the Mariners game."

"Yeah the way they play I think I'd rather deal with the mountain lions." Edward paused "is dad picking you up?"

I nodded

"Yeah, figured I'd give you and Bella a chance to talk," Edward gave me a gently shove which I expected and I easily returned. "so dad and I will go to the game and then we'll just catch up with you guys for the camp out."

Edward nodded,

"Sounds like a plan Chris," he paused and lowered his voice, in the hum of the crowd, only someone with vampire hearing could hear. "I didn't get a chance to thank you,"

_For what?_ I thought

"For what you said to Bella, I know it couldn't have been easy for you to open up to her on something like that Chris and I am very glad you talked to her."

_Didn't do much, she's still pretty adamant about it happening as soon as possible. If you haven't noticed that is_.

"I did notice, but regardless you obviously impacted her, you gave her something to think about. And I owe you Chris."

I grinned

"And I'll figure out a way for you to pay me back."

Edward shoved me and followed Bella into their class. I rolled my eyes again and started to head towards my own, just across the hall from theirs when I heard my name being called, followed by quick moving footsteps, the huffing sounded familiar. I turned and grinned as Paul came running down the hall,

"Chris wait up!" he called skidding to a stop in front of me he took a deep breath obviously trying to catch his breath from the short run that had tired him out "tha…nks, so did you talk to your dad?"

My grin widened as I chuckled at my friend

"Yes I did, he's game, he's actually looking forward the game, he's going to call your dad right now and figure everything out."

Paul grinned

"excellent!" he exclaimed "a completely guys only night."

"The calm before the storm of the dance?" I asked grinning

"Dude, that whole thing is going to be its own kind of special hell. It's going to suck so bad."

I shrugged

"Might not be so bad, I mean seriously how bad could it be?"

"Chris, I have a little sister who is obsessed with High School Musical and an older sister who has seen Footloose more times than I can count, trust me I know what we're in for and might not be so bad is the understatement of the century. It's going to be pure hell."

We walked into the health class, the girls were in their usual spot up front, Steve, Patrick, and Nick were in our spot in the back of the room. Mrs. Cochran doesn't have assigned seats in the class; she lets us sit wherever we want as long as we don't make her regret it.

The bell hadn't rung yet and Nick, Patrick, and Steve were chuckling in the back, no one else in the room could've heard the conversation that was occurring back there.

"That has got to be the grossest thing in the world." Patrick whispered to Steve and Nick "I mean, why the heck would she show us that right after lunch, it's nasty."

"how the heck are girls not green? I mean look at them, have they even noticed it?" Steve asked, Patrick and Nick shrugged their answer.

I looked up at the board where on the projector Mrs. Cochran had a really nasty picture of a set of human lungs that had obviously belonged to a smoker. I made a face, that was nasty all right.

"Speaking of hell," I said to Paul nodding at the image "I'm thinking that person was either a smoker or spent a lot of time playing poker games with the devil in hell."

Paul burst out laughing and Mrs. Cochran looked up at us from her desk, her eyes narrowing, obviously not pleased with what I had just said either that or she just figured Paul was laughing at something I had said and figured it was inappropriate .

"Boys, I do expect a certain level of maturity. You will sophomores next year, I expect you to act like it, lung disease is a very serious issue that I do not find very funny, now take your seats before I arrange for those seats to be closer to the front."

"Sorry Mrs. Cochran," we muttered in unison, exchanging a look as we headed to our seats in the back.

The girls all kind of looked at us and grinned, before giggling to themselves, Mrs. Cochran paid them no mind which in the back of my mind didn't seem all that fair. Mrs. Cochran started writing the notes on the board as I took my seat in between Patrick and Nick, both of them exchanged a look with Steve before all three began grinning ear to ear.

"So, what did you say to get on Cochran's 'don't make me move you to the front of the room' threat?" Patrick asked and I shrugged

"I simply stated a fact, it's not my fault she thinks I'm being facetious." I explained pulling out my notebook. The guys all grinned and began to laugh, just quiet enough that Mrs. Cochran wouldn't hear.

As Mrs. Cochran began her lecture on the damage smoking can cause, the discussion in our area was back on the baseball game.

"So Chris did you call your dad?" Nick asked and I nodded "what he say?"

"He's looking forward to it, so he's glad I changed my mind."

"You know I was thinking," Paul spoke up

"Uh oh," Nick, Steve, Patrick, and I all whispered

"shuddup," Paul shot back before continuing "Chris is your dad going to drive?"

I shrugged

"Dunno maybe, he was calling your dad to I guess arrange everything. Why?"

"Well here's the thing, there's ten of us total going right? Between us and our dads, so logically there's going to have to be at least two cars involved."

"Right, but again what does this have to do with my dad driving?" I asked even though I knew exactly where Paul was going,

"Dude, you're dad drives a Mercedes Benz, an S55 right?" Patrick replied of course I knew what kind of car Carlisle drove, but I had to keep up appearances like I wasn't sure what the style of car my father drove had to do with anything.

"Yeah, why?"

"Come on your dad has to be one of the drivers; his car is so sick man!" Steve exclaimed, probably louder then he meant too, luckily Mrs. Cochran was answering a question from someone up front, even still I gently elbowed him reminding him to keep it down.

I had no desire to be in the front of the room; when your last name starts with a C, being in the front of the room tends to be a going trend and its nice to have a change of pace.

"I think what loud mouth means is, it'll be cool to drive into the city in a Mercedes, rolling into Seattle in style; do you think your dad will be willing to drive?"

"Probably, I'll ask him, but keep in mind he can only fit four people besides himself in the car, it's a car not a minivan." I added, in the back of my mind I wondered what their reaction would be if they saw Edward's other car, the Aston Martin or the Porche that Edward had purchased for Alice and had it safely in storage until the time was right to give it to her.

The reaction that my friends would've given over those two cars would've been hilarious, especially if they thought the Mercedes was the high end of cars in the Cullen household, if only they knew the truth.

Patrick got this look in his eyes, a moment of realization

"You know what we should do? We drive in with Dr. Cullen and our dads go in with Mr. Cooper," Patrick whispered as loud as he dared "Chris, ask your dad please? Please?" he practically begged me and the others were no better, they too looked at me like little puppies waiting for a treat.

"You guys are pathetic you know that?" I replied grinning evilly

"Pathetic with impeccable taste in cars." Nick defended quickly before Mrs. Cochran shot a look towards us.

Instantly we all were writing in our notebooks, but I could see the wheels turning in my friends' heads the prospect of riding in a Mercedes just made the game that much cooler. I chuckled to myself, my friends were insane, certifiable even, but I had to admit, they were certainly some of the best friends I'd had in a long time, in reality the only human friends I've have since 1940.

XXXX

A/N:

Okay so there was a lot of buzz regarding the wolf, some of you guys guessed it was Seth and yes you guys were right, but some of you were wondering why Seth was behaving like that if something was wrong with him. I'm here to address that, nothing is wrong with him, he was a little full of himself and decided to try his own paw so to speak at patrolling, Chris was near enough to the line that Seth decided to freak him out a little to get the "leech" away from the line, he got a little to into the whole thing. And as Nan guessed, Sam called him back before he could do something well, dumb. Believe me, Seth got the lecture from hell by Sam. It was more over the fact that Seth sneaked out and went to the line to begin with then the fact he "attacked" one of the Cullens. Whew, I hope I didnt spoil to much on that, but it was a question that kept coming up and I wasnt sure if I'd be able to really address it in the story itself.

Also, next two chapters should be up this week sometime, both are nearly done, just require some much needed tweaking. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I will never be able to express how much I appreciate all the support from you guys, it means the world to me. Till next time!


	10. Chapter 10

By the time school ended, the guys were acting like Carlisle had agreed to drive us all. I knew he wouldn't have a problem, but it was still kind of funny.

As the last bell ended, I bid goodbye to my friends and made a mad dash for Carlisle's car, which was parked at the curb, just behind the buses.

I sighed with relief once I was safe and sound in my father's car; he chuckled a bit as he put the car into drive and carefully moved towards the exit.

"Sup dad?" I asked, grinning. Carlisle turned onto the highway and looked over at me, trying not to laugh.

"Not much son, not much, I do appreciate the phone call this afternoon and the fact that it did not involve you getting detention."

"All you had to do was pick me up from that, I'm the one that was stuck with Jones for an extra hour and a half."

"You seem to forget that was only a week or so before the first session of Parent Teacher conferences, it was not the way I hoped to meet one of your teachers." Carlisle countered smoothly; he wasn't mad though, he was clearly amused. "So, Chris, what changed your mind about the game? Last I checked you seemed very adamant about not going."

I shrugged

"Dunno, I guess it was all the talk from the guys, it really got me thinking about their safety. They were talking 'bout hitting the town, scoping out spots to go back to during the summer. Nick is getting his license over the summer so they're hoping he's going to be the driver."

Carlisle raised an eyebrow, obviously confused

"His license, isn't Nick fifteen?"

I shook my head

"He's actually turning sixteen in July, I guess he was really sick right before he started kindergarten and his parents decided to wait a year before sending him. You'd never guess it though; he looks like he's only fourteen. I mean the positive note is that he can't legally drive us for six months, but that seriously isn't going to be the thing that stops this road-trip. Mainly because of his older brother Grif, he's living in Seattle; he's a junior at the University of Washington and has already offered up his apartment for the group to stay a few days. I'm hoping this whole thing is over by the time summer gets going, but it'll make me feel a heck of a lot better knowing those guys aren't going to get swept up in it." I paused and reached into my backpack, pulling out the rolled up newspaper I'd found in the recycle bin, probably left by a teacher or a student checking sports stats, but it was story on the front that had caught my attention. "Did you see this morning's paper?"

Carlisle is usually right on top of the news from all over the world, he has subscriptions to at least fifty of the world's top newspapers, including the New York Times, Boston Globe, London Post, and more importantly at least right now, the Seattle Times, not exactly hardcore reporting, but important in its own right. I hadn't seen any of the papers that morning, and had assumed he was picking them up at work, but I didn't see any in the car.

"No, I did not, at least not from the Seattle Times, something about a delay in production for today's issue."

"Doesn't really matter, this is from yesterday, but it'll serve the same purpose." I unrolled the paper and held it up so he could see the front page, the youngest victim to go missing so far, a sixteen year old boy. Here on the front page was a kid not much older than my friends at school, a kid who could've been any of my classmates for that matter.

Carlisle took a deep breath and sighed, the whole situation in Seattle had all of us on edge, but my father especially, he knew we were running out of options on how to handle it. If it was really one of our kind, it was eventually going to boil over to the point where we had no choice but to get involved, we couldn't let it go on like this so close to our territory.

Getting involved could mean a fight, something my father would avoid so as long as it did not put our family or our human neighbors in danger, not getting involved meant eventual exposure, which meant a death sentence from the Volturi.

"I know you want to protect your friends Chris, and believe me I do as well, but there is only so much we can do, we cannot force people to live in a bubble. Nor can we interfere in their lives even when we know they are making the wrong choice." Carlisle paused as we turned onto our drive, "I know it isnt something you want to think about Christian, but eventually we will leave Forks and with it your friends. Were you satisfied with how they coped after we left in September?"

I nodded

"For the most part, but in a way that was different. I made sure from day one that when the time came for us to move on, there would be no clinging. My friends would move on as well, they would grow up, remember me as a just a good friend, and have their own lives, even coming back now I know that is still the same." I took a deep breath, slipping my Dartmouth hat with the Moose mascot on it, off and put it on the center arm rest, it had come in with Edward's acceptance letter a few days ago.

We had reached the house now, Carlisle pulling slowly into the garage next to Esme's Audi.

"But?" Carlisle prodded gently

"But if this whole thing turns out to be one of our kind…then I want to make sure that my friends are safe from at least that, at this time. I can't sit back and know that I could've protected them at least for now, and not do so."

Carlisle picked up my hat and put it back on my head, pushing the brim down so it went over my eyes.

"And I'm not suggesting that you do that Chris. We will go to Seattle; one of us will try and enjoy the game while the other does what he is best at, protecting and looking out for everyone."

I grinned,

"Well, the one that will be enjoying the game also has another job to do." I said casually sliding out of the car.

"And what's that?" Carlisle asked suspiciously as he followed me to the door that leads into the kitchen.

"Apparently you've been drafted to be the driver." I replied grinning

"I beg your pardon?"

"When I told the guys we were going, they all unanimously decided that Dr. Cullen's Mercedes was the perfect ride to take into Seattle."

"Wonderful," Carlisle said shaking his head, chuckling a bit "I don't suppose you boys will be riding with Mr. Cooper?"

"Nope, in the 'cedes."

"What's this about the Mercedes and Seattle?" Esme asked as she greeted us inside. She hugged and kissed Carlisle, before reaching over and hugging me tight, kissing the top of my head.

"Chris decided that he wants to go to the baseball game tomorrow night and apparently his little motley crew of friends have nominated me to drive them." Carlisle replied chuckling, he moved into the hallway and Esme and I followed, he took off his jacket and hung it up in the closet and I did the same.

"I thought you didn't want to go Chris?" Esme asked taking my hat off my head and hanging it up next to my jacket, she has this thing with hats in the house.

Normally I would jet upstairs to my room, say hi to Chap, and maybe watch a few movies, but Esme wanted to talk for a moment, that much was obvious and I wasn't about to argue with her.

I shrugged

"Changed my mind?" I offered and Esme narrowed her eyes, looking at me expectantly, leading Carlisle and me into the family room.

I half expected Emmett and Jasper to have invaded the room for the TV, but they were nowhere to be found, the TV was off and the radio was on, Esme must have been enjoying a quiet afternoon with no one home. I looked at my mother, curious as to my brothers' whereabouts,

"They went to go check on Alice's Porsche."

I rolled my eyes

"Why is Edward even bothering to hide it in storage? I mean Alice already knows its coming, its impossible to keep anything from her." I asked

"That is Edward's decision, let him have his fun." Esme replied "he's waiting for the best time to give it to her."

We made ourselves comfortable in the family room, Esme and Carlisle to the love seat, me to my favorite chair, the TV stayed off.

Esme reached over and took my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"So what changed your mind?"

"My idiot friends?" I replied grinning

"Apparently the boys want to go to the game for reasons other than just America's favorite pastime. They're planning visit to Seattle during the summer and are hoping to find some, what's a good word for it Chris?"

"Happening places?" I guessed

"Yes, that works, regardless; Chris is a little worried about them."

"They want to have a good time this summer in Seattle, which during a normal summer I'd be fine with, a city is a city and it's never going to be 100% safe, but it's safer normally. This summer is different, it's not

"Understandable, every once in a while the news mention it, but it is certainly becoming more often." Esme paused looking at both of us sternly "While I was in town today, picking up some things for the graduation party, I overheard some of the parents talking. Do you know that Mrs. Newton and Mrs. Crowley have forbidden Mike and Tyler to go to Seattle until this whole thing is over?"

"Bella's friends?" I asked and Esme nodded

"It would seem that they were planning on going into Seattle this weekend, a trip which of course has been put on hold."

I exchanged a look with Carlisle, I didn't know that and I wondered if my father had. It made me even more nervous to know that it had reached the point where people in Forks knew something was wrong in Seattle and even worse, were preventing each other from going there.

It made me wonder, how much longer it would be before…if it was one of our kind, then god forbid, the Volturi got involved. I wouldn't be surprised if they were already planning to send scouts or something just to investigate a little. My only hope was that Alice would see that coming first and that would allow us to act on it if need be.

The one good thing about my friends going, even if I had decided not to go was that they wouldn't be alone, they wouldn't be and can't be adult-less, (if that's even a word, I don't think it is, but it gets the point across).

Mike and Tyler, in all reality they're adults, whether that's mentally or not is another story, but they could go into Seattle if they want without a parent going with them. Clearly Mike's mum and Tyler's mum had a say in the situation, but neither guy needs their mum to drive them into the city.

It's different with my friends, fourteen, fifteen year old kids with one sixteen year old who still won't be able to drive them anywhere for six months. They have to stick by an adult inside the city, they have no choice, that's their ride home for one thing and for another, my friends may talk tough, but they are still kids and will act like it when the time comes, IE staying close to an adult.

If they manage to get into Seattle this summer and all this crap is still going on, who's going to look out for them? I mean I'm sure Nick's brother isn't going to let anything happen to them, but how is he going to keep four teenagers from doing something stupid in a big city. He's not their babysitter.

My mind flashed to the newspaper article and the kid that had recently gone missing, he could've been just like Nick, Steve, Patrick, or even Paul, hell he could've been me and who knew what he was doing now, was he alive, was he dead, who the hell knew?

"I know I can't protect them from the world, and certainly not forever, but they are my friends and I can look out for them, at least for a while." I paused and took a deep breath. "And spend as much time as I possibly can trying to convince them not go to Seattle over the summer."

"Chris sweetie it is times like this, I wish you would listen to yourself."

I raised an eyebrow at Esme

"Huh?"

"Chris every once in a while you slip back into the bad habit of pretending you prefer to let nature take its course, separating yourself from the situation and the feelings that come with that something I thought was over with decades ago. But then you seem to unintentionally correct yourself. You just did that." Esme pulled me over to the loveseat and planted me in between her and Carlisle, she hugged my shoulders tight, "you are not separate from the situation, you are a part of it, you have a say in how things will play out and more importantly you have an emotional connection, we all do."

I sighed

"I've let myself become to close to everyone here haven't I?"

Carlisle and Esme looked at one another, then at me with a look that made me shrink back a little.

"Christian Aiden Cullen, that is exactly what I'm talking about." Esme reprimanded, "Why are you questioning that? You have made friends, very close friends I might add, with a group of children with whom you have a lot in common. You may not see how that has affected you, but we can see it, it has been a wonderful thing to see you letting people other than us in. Your attitude has dramatically changed, you are acting like the kid you should be and we couldn't be happier."

She was right of course at least on one aspect, I didn't see any changes in myself, profiling myself is not part of the ability, I profile others and environments, it is impossible to profile myself, at least, I've never tried.

It got me thinking, would the old Chris have opened up to Bella like I had, would I have allowed myself the vulnerability that comes with telling Bella my sob story?

There was also the bigger picture to consider, I knew how I acted around Marie and her group of friends, I felt comfortable with them enough to be kind of be myself, something I hadn't done at school since I was human.

But to me that was like a chicken or the egg question, was I more comfortable with my friends at school because I felt more comfortable around Bella, was she somehow changing my attitude towards everything? Or was it the other way around; was I more comfortable around Bella because of the affect my friends were having on me?

I mean I was courteous to my classmates, starting when I met them in sixth grade, but I never went out of my way to be overly friendly, the occasional hi or what's up was passed around and sometimes I would pair up with one of them for an assignment. But I didn't instigate the grouping, it was all on them, now that I'm thing back, it was really Sarah and Nick, they were the first ones to kind of approach me in sixth grade, Marie did too, but she is so painfully shy it took her a while to talk to me, it involved Sarah dragging her up to ask me question about an assignment.

But that was back then, none of what I was experiencing now was even in the same description of then. It really started snowballing last year, last spring to be specific, before I had even met Bella. So maybe Bella had nothing to do with my perception, maybe it was just a coincidence. I'm not big on relying on coincidences or believing everything happens for a mythical reason. My ability allows me to see how things will occur, triggers so to speak, I rely on the facts that my ability tells me, not basing everything on faith and coincident.

I see body language and it tells me everything I need to know about a person or an environment. Its like this, if I see a root sticking out of the ground on a walking path and I get a look at five people who will walk that path, I can easily figure out just by body language alone, which one of those five will trip over that root. Those are facts and are all pieces of the puzzle I use to come to my conclusions.

So without Bella in the puzzle I was left with a burning question, was it my friends changing my attitude or was I changing myself, was there really a reason for my new outlook?

I didn't know how to answer my own question and it was a good one too. But asking it aloud might bring another reprimand from Esme so I kept my question to myself. I simply nodded my acceptance at what she had just said, it's safer then arguing with her.

"Sorry Mum," I said, apologizing doesn't hurt either.

"Don't apologize Christian; just keep in mind what I just said."

"I will,"

Carlisle cleared his throat; he had been letting Esme handle this discussion because it was something she felt very strongly about. Carlisle understood my reasoning as well as Esme's, but spouse overrules youngest child each time in this kind of thing, he agreed with everything Esme was saying.

"Chris, how about you and I go hunting?" he asked and Esme nodded her approval "it looks like you're getting close to needing it, might make things easier tomorrow at the game if you're concentrating on your profile and not the coming mountain lions."

I grinned at that and laughed as Esme and Carlisle joined me. I looked at my father mischievously

"So, first one to take down Bambi?" I asked innocently, Carlisle rolled his eyes, he does not get involved in bets like my brothers and I do. If anything Carlisle sits back and just shakes his head at us.

"Chris, do I look like Emmett to you?"

"Occasionally," I replied, "once in a while you get this look in your eyes that is a dead ringer for Emmett." My grin widened as Carlisle stood up.

"Let's go Chris," he replied chuckling, pulling me up by the collar of my shirt.

XXXX

Carlisle and I don't get to hunt together just the two of us very often. It's tends to be me with my brothers or sisters, or sometimes just him and Esme, but rarely just us. It's amazing how similar we are, I mean given the fact that my father is nearly three hundred years older than me and the fact we're not biologically father and son, we could easily be father and son.

If you want to get technical, the moment Carlisle bit me, injecting the venom into my bloodstream we became father and son literally and psychologically, it's weird to think about, but the vampire who bit Carlisle and turned him, is for all intensive purposes, my grandfather, mine, Edward, Emmett, Rosalie, and even Esme, without him Carlisle wouldn't have been turned, and neither would any of us.

I like science and medical stuff, but that thought really weird's me out, so I try to avoid the technicalities associated with my vampiric DNA, not only that, but it gives me the vampire equivalent to a migraine.

I'm getting off topic there, it's not the point, the point is that of everyone in the family, it's Carlisle who I relate to the easiest, who I'm the most like. Carlisle even told me once that I remind him of himself when he was a kid or a young teen. I may look up to my brothers and sisters, I may even act like them at some points or enjoy similar activities, but it's with Carlisle who I share a similar personality with. There are even some times when we think alike, except of course when it comes to fighting.

Carlisle is very much a pacifist, he'd rather see his own life in danger then put someone else in harms way no matter the reason, he's the perfect definition of a doctor, the whole Hippocratic oath rolled into one man. I'm not like Emmett where I jump into a fight as if it's the only option, but if my profile gives me reason to fight or I see it as the only logical option, I will side with Emmett each time. Many underestimate me because of my size, but I can fight with the best of them. But I see Carlisle's feelings on the matter of fighting and at times I do agree with him.

But I love spending one on one time with my father, especially outside. I feel so free when I can just run through the woods as fast as I can, with nothing holding me back.

I dodged a fallen tree and hopped over another as I felt Carlisle right behind me. I'm easily the fastest in the family, but my father was keeping pace with me as we followed a herd of deer deeper into the woods, waiting for the right time to pounce.

As much as I love being in the forest and as much as I need to hunt, being able to sense animal emotions makes hunting less enjoyable for me. I wish I could enjoy it like my siblings do, but unless I really concentrate on ignoring the fear, pain, confusion, and sometimes rage that I get bombarded with, I can't enjoy it, I'm so focused on maintain control of the emotions that I go kind of on auto pilot with the hunt.

Hunting with Jasper always goes a lot smoother for me. He manages to counter nearly any emotions getting thrown my way, especially the violent ones from predators. He focuses on my emotions leaving me with a full sense of calm and clarity as I hunt. It really helps when Emmett goes for the bears, which I enjoy, but rarely get because of how nasty they can get, especially after they've been agitated by Emmett.

Prior to Alice and Jasper joining the family, there were actually times hunting with Emmett, where I had to leave the area because as he enraged the bear to the point where it was a good wrestling opponent I would be nailed with that bears emotions, getting more and more angry with my brother until my choice was either leave the area or attack my brother.

Amazingly though, Carlisle without any special abilities, can do the same thing at least with me. Like the father he really is, Carlisle can see when something isnt right with each one of us, so if he sees me getting agitated when we're hunting, he knows the source isnt me, its whatever animal is in the area.

Carlisle can usually get me calmed down enough to help me focus the emotions pushing them into more manageable solutions. Aside from Jasper, when it comes to the emotions bombarding me and basically pushing me underwater, Carlisle is the only one who can pull me out quickly. Esme is usually the first one there to calm me down and comfort me, but it's Carlisle who gets me to Esme at least in the emotional sense.

So as we neared the herd of deer, the emotions began to get stronger, including one emotion that didn't really fit with the herd of deer, a feeling of anger, something nearby was not only territorial, but was very hungry. We were not the only predators hunting in the woods tonight. In the distance I could make out a shape of a mountain lion, it was slowly making its way to the herd, stalking. It must have detected our presence, because it was not a happy cat, believing that it now had competition and it was not giving up that herd without a fight, especially not to some new creatures it didn't recognize.

Carlisle and I had two choices here, we could either allow the cat to get the herd first and then we track them further into the woods, which wouldn't be a problem, or one of us take out the cat while the other goes for the herd. We exchanged a look and he gestured towards the cat's scent, I nodded my answer, Carlisle knows me well enough to understand my nod, he was giving me the cat if I wanted it, he would take the deer. I guess he figured I needed to hunt more than he did, hence why I was getting the predator. I was grateful for it though; I could take the lion down swiftly and still keep most of the herd on a fairly calm level while Carlisle went for them.

We split up as I headed up the hill, behind the lion, it wouldn't smell me from this direction until it was to late. I could feel its emotions, it was cocky, it thought it had scared off the competition; boy was this hairball in for a big surprise. My throat began to burn a little as a thirst that hadn't been there a few minutes prior, suddenly sprang up with the prospect of the hunt. I focused my thoughts on the herd of deer, trying to keep them as calm as possible, giving Carlisle the chance to take one down quickly.

The rest of the herd scrambled and I shifted my concentration into the mountain lion, it was stunned for a second as the herd ran off in all directions and it wasn't sure which one to follow. Of course the cat didn't have time to finish his contemplation, as I pounced on him from behind incapacitating him and extinguishing the fire in my throat, feeling so much better instantly, I guess Carlisle had been right, I did need to hunt; he really does amaze me sometimes.

XXX


	11. Chapter 11

The next day, Carlisle picked me up from school again; luckily we had a half day considering the game was at seven it worked out perfectly. But in all honesty the group of us was pretty lucky to make it out of school for the day. Paul had nearly gotten us all in trouble, he wouldn't shut up about the game and the rest of us were blamed by association.

Luckily, the teachers were in a good mood or something (I think it being a half day on a Friday with a beautiful yet cloudy late spring weekend ahead, helped too), so we weren't kept after, just let off with a strongly worded warning. Anyways it was a relief when the bell finally rang and I could bolt to my father's waiting car.

As I slid into the passenger seat, I glanced causally over at my father and burst out laughing. He was apparently ready for the game, deciding to deck himself out in full baseball attire, he was wearing an authentic Red Sox jersey and a old style baseball cap that I'm pretty sure he bought when we went to Cooperstown about ten years back.

Carlisle loves baseball, he has since its beginning, it's sometimes hard to tell who's the bigger fan, Emmett, Carlisle, Jasper, or Edward, I swear they're all evenly matched, to a near obsession point, especially Carlisle and Emmett.

Carlisle hid it well, but he was disappointed when I said I wasn't really up for the Mariners game, of course he was ecstatic when I changed my mind. I can take baseball or leave it, I do like sports and baseball definitely falls under that category, and yes I like playing baseball with my family, but participating in it and watching others play it are two entirely different things.

Regardless, my father loves the game, when we went to Cooperstown, New York for the Baseball Hall of Fame, him and my brothers were in their glory. I mean don't get me wrong, I had a lot of fun, it was after all a museum and I love museums and it was sports, two of my favorite things. It was cool to see the history associated with the game of baseball, Emmett has definitely done a number on converting me to be minimal baseball enthusiast, but I am nowhere near my father and brothers, we were at that museum from the time it opened to the time it closed, the staff actually had to kick us out.

I shouldn't have been surprised by my father's attire, given his obsession, but I was trying to avoid pointing out the obvious, we were going to a Mariners Vs, Orioles game, I wasn't really sure where the Red Sox factored into this equation.

I mean, my father was going to stick out like a…well like a Red Sox fan at a Yankee game (see I do know baseball, I know that those two teams are long standing rivals and have history, Curse of the Bambino against the Red Sox that was broken in 2004, a curse that started with a goat? Oh wait, wrong curse, that's the Cubs and that particular curse is still in play) sorry off topic, anyways I couldn't help the snickers that escaped me, which was quickly turning into flat out laughter.

The random Red Sox gear was only part of it, he literally looked hilarious, he was wearing the jersey over his dress shirt and under his jacket, and was still wearing his work slacks and loafers. I really had to wonder if he had seriously gone dressed like that all day and I was pretty sure he had.

As we pulled out onto the main highway, my laughter still going strong as I struggled to hold it back, Carlisle looked over at me expectantly. Did he really expect seriousness from me of all people, especially when he looked like that?

"Are you quite finished?" he asked, trying to maintain a serious face, but I could read him, he was so far from serious it was comical.

"Perhaps," I replied grinning "so…dad, a wee bit excited are we?" I used a tone my human mother used all the time when I supposedly gave her gray hairs because of my inability to sit still. I think it's a parental thing, because Esme and Carlisle use it with me too.

"I'm still dumbfounded that you aren't," was my father's answer

I shrugged

"one it's baseball, two it's the Marlins against Baltimore, I have very little expectations tonight. Which leads me to my own question, you do realize you got the wrong B city right?" I asked gesturing to his outfit and he gave me a look that was a mix of annoyance and humor.

"It is possible to go to baseball game and not be a fan of either team, just going to the game in itself is supposed to be fun." Carlisle replied.

"Peanuts and crackerjacks and the whole lot of it?" I asked

"Wouldn't be baseball without them." Was his reply

I grinned wider, he knew of course I was only kidding with my teasing, I was excited about the game regardless of the teams playing, I'm just better at not showing my excitement and it's more fun to pretend I'm not excited and annoy.

As soon as we pulled into our garage, I knew I was trouble though and that feeling did not diminish as we walked into the house.

Emmett was waiting at the door, a look on his face that was a perfect mix of jealously and mischievous, a look I have learned to fear.

"Well, well, well, Little Brother." He started, throwing a giant arm around my shoulders "I'm a little disappointed in you."

"Oh?" I asked, even though I knew exactly where this conversation was going

"You really had to **think** about going to the baseball game? Not only is it a free game, but kid you're right behind the home team dugout! That's a no brainer. I though we raised you better than that." Emmett pretended to dab at his eyes, in mock hurt and I could only roll mine as I tugged off my jacket, hanging it on the coat hook.

"I'm never going to hear the end of this am I?"

"Nope," Jasper replied from the couch.

"It's Un-American to not want to go watch the national past time." Emmett continued with his lecture. He was really laying it on thick, in all good humor of course.

I wondered for a second why he hadn't comment on Carlisle's attire, Emmett absolutely **HATES** the Red Sox, it's one of the only things him and Carlisle disagree with as far as sports go, Emmett full heartily supports the Yankees, the supposedly Evil Empire? I've never been able to figure out what baseball and Star Wars have in common though. Emmett should've had at least some random Red Sox comment by now.

Carlisle had moved into the kitchen and was hugging Esme, as the two of them watched Emmett and I banter each other, from the doorway.

"You do realize I'm not American right? I am therefore not constricted to certain norms you Americans deem appropriate, such as having a fondness for baseball." I was really trying not to laugh at this point, but Emmett couldn't see it, I think he was the only one because I could hear snickering coming from Jasper.

"In theory there smart-alec" I seriously could tell he wanted to use another word, but wouldn't on account of Esme "neither is Carlisle, so try another excuse."

"Baseball is just a rip off of cricket, which is older, a more exciting game, and played by more people then baseball could ever hope."

"If baseball is a rip off of cricket, it's because cricket is so lame, it needed something to liven it up. It needed American ingenuity to perfect it."

"Ah hah!" I exclaimed "so you admit you wouldn't have baseball if it wasn't for cricket?" I looked at Emmett expectantly; he was just about to reply when Esme decided enough was enough.

"Okay you two that is quite enough out of the both of you. I think we have fulfilled our daily quota of Christian and Emmett arguing over baseball and cricket for the day, don't you think?"

"Yes mum," we both mumbled hanging our hands. Esme wasn't mad at us in the least, she was amused as was Jasper and Carlisle. She usually lets us have a go for a few minutes or so before she'll put an end to our arguing.

"Truce?" I asked, holding out my hand "for now at least?"

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah," Emmett replied "truce for now," we shook on the matter, and Emmett gave me a gentle shove. I saw it coming of course, but I chose not to react, I figured let him have his fun.

"Chris, you might want to go put your things away, we're meeting at the Coopers' in about twenty minutes." Carlisle spoke up, he held up his wrist and pointed at his watch.

"You need to change too Dr. Cullen," Esme added, giving him a look "I need to iron some things and those clothes of yours are on my list."

Carlisle grinned at her like a little kid and kissed her cheek, before heading to his and her room.

Now Esme turned her look on me and I shrugged, grinning my own childish grin, before bolting up the stairs to my room.

Chaplin went into a fit of squeaks and squeals as soon as I opened the door, begging to be released. I sighed, he was going to have a bloody meltdown if I didn't let him out for a little bit, so I undid the latch on his cage and freed the rat. It wasn't even the point of freedom in Chap's mind, it was the principle of the thing, he wanted the door to his cage open so he could have the satisfaction of leaving if he wanted too. I had proof of this when he took a look at the open door, and decided to go back to his salt wheel for another go at it.

I rolled my eyes at my rat, and left the door open, if he wanted out he could come out on his own. While he debated this freedom, I went to my closet to begin digging. I hadn't been to a major league baseball game in years, so I really had to dig deep in the back of my closet for my box of baseball stuff.

Despite all my talk, I do like baseball, I love playing it with my family, I enjoy watching it on TV, egging my brothers into arguments over their favorite teams. It's just more fun to annoy my brothers and father, by pretending I could care less about the sport the four of them love.

The first thing surprisingly I found was my glove. When we play, we don't use gloves, but I used it the last time I went to a professional game, it would look really weird for me to catch a high fly foul ball with my bare hand, so I bought the baseball glove, just in case.

While my glove was easy to find, it was my collection of hats that proved to be the most problematic. In the baseball box alone I've got tons of hats, but I couldn't find the specific hat I was looking for, I have an Orioles hat believe it or not, don't ask me why though.

I thought it would be funny if I showed up at the game wearing the visiting team's colors, and trust me I'm not an Orioles fan, I just like to instigate whenever possible. Considering my father was going to the same game I was only wearing the uniform of a team that wasn't even playing on this side of the country tonight, I think I was justified, at least I was at the right game.

It took some extra digging, but I finally found it at the bottom of the box, piled under an extra twenty or so hats, some doubles, but most representing the other teams in the MLB. It was also pretty clear I hadn't worn the hat in decades, it at all.

I tossed it and my glove onto my window seat, before climbing to my feet to get my Surrey jersey off its hanger. I was going to this game in my own style.

"Oh hell no!" Emmett exclaimed from my doorway. I had been so absorbed in finding the damn hat; I had completely ignored my profile that he was coming up. He moved over to my window seat and held my hat up like it carried the plague. "There is no way in hell you are wearing this…or that!" he added pointing at the cricket jersey in my hand.

I grinned wide

"it's all I got Em, unless you prefer I wear this?" I reached back into the box and pulled out my own Red Sox hat and tee-shirt that Carlisle had given me years and years ago, when we lived in Western Massachusetts for a brief time.

The horrified look on Em's face was hilarious, he quickly shook his head and clutched at his chest and I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

Since I joined the family, both Emmett and Carlisle have tried to get me to take sides on their baseball rivalry. It's one of the only times Carlisle and Emmett get competitive with each other, because that's really not in my father's nature, but they are both very passion about this thing. I may like baseball more then I admit, but I don't have a team I follow religiously, like Emmett with the Yankees, Carlisle with the Red Sox, or even Edward for the Cubs and Jasper who is a huge fan of the Dodgers. He's followed that team from its time as the Brooklyn Dodgers to the move to their current home of LA.

"I guess it's a good thing I ordered this." Emmett spoke up, apparently getting over his near heart attack. I could only imagine what he was holding behind his back. It could be anything with my brother and fear is a gross understatement.

After a few seconds of dramatic pause, he slowly held up his surprise, a Mariners jersey, complete with hat.

"Oh brother," I sighed

"I think I got your size." Emmett kept going, I was a little stunned that it wasn't Yankee related. He looked at my confused face and shrugged "have to support the home team, when in Seattle. Just remember you'd be wearing Yankee colors-"

"Or lack there of" I interrupted grinning, but he continued as if he hadn't heard me, or was just ignoring me really well.

"-If they were playing against the Mariners." With that, Emmett pulled my sweatshirt off and slipped the jersey over my head.

I was practically swimming in the thing it was so big, I pulled the collar around to see the size, the shirt went down to my knees and sagged off my shoulders. I looked like a little kid trying on football player's uniform.

"Dude!" I exclaimed "this thing is bloody huge, what is it?" I finally grabbed the tag, it was a 2XL. I looked at my brother expectantly "this is yours isn't it?"

"Maybe," he replied shrugging sheepishly.

"Dude, I could camp out in this sucker, its way to big."

"I know," he grinned "that's why I got you this!" Emmett pulled out a smaller, similar looking jersey out of his pocket and threw it to me.

I slipped Emmett's off and pulled the new one on. It fit perfectly; it was baggy enough that I felt comfortable, but not so baggy that I looked like I was wearing a tent.

"Chris, hurry up son!" Carlisle called from downstairs.

"Thanks Em," I said, as Emmett pulled my new hat on my head, it too was perfect size.

"Have fun tonight; catch a couple fly balls will ya?"

"I'll try," I replied as Emmett and I bumped fists "see you guys in Cali, save me a couple mountain lions will you?"

"Hah, that's if Edward doesn't get them all first," Emmett shot back grinning as I grabbed my glove and shut Chaplin's cage up, before I bolted downstairs.

XXX

We pulled along the Cooper's sidewalk, mainly because their driveway was packed to the brim with cars. I could see Paul watching from the doorway; he began waving like a madman and grinning.

Carlisle raised an eyebrow at him, before looking at me expectantly, gesturing to Paul. I shrugged, just because he was my friend does not mean I understand him, but I did have to grin.

"What?" Carlisle asked suspiciously

"Imagine if we showed up in the Martin." My grin widened mischievously and Carlisle rolled his eyes, "come on dad, think about it, Paul's there drooling over your Mercedes, imagine his reaction to the Aston Martin."

Carlisle chuckled a little bit and slid out of the car as I did the same. Paul held the door open for us and was still grinning like a maniac.

"Thought you guys got lost or something," he said ushering us inside

"Naw, just had to get around my older brother." I replied "he's a baseball nut, he was a little jealous we were going and he's not."

In the Cooper's living room, all the dads and my buddies were present and accounted for, Carlisle and I being the last to arrive. Mr. Cooper came to us from the kitchen and shook Carlisle's hand immediately, before shaking mine as well.

"Dr. Cullen, glad you guys could make it."

"Carlisle please," Carlisle corrected him, "and thank you for the tickets."

"No problem, the boys need something to take their minds off of school before finals, right boys?" Mr. Cooper asked

"heck yeah," I heard Nick mutter.

"So Chris, you excited for the game?" Mr. Cooper asked patting me on the shoulder, I heard Carlisle chuckle a little so quietly that only I heard it.

"Ecstatic, been looking forward to it all week." I replied

Mr. Cooper nodded went around the room introducing Steve, Patrick, and Nick and their dads to Carlisle.

Once introductions were out of the way, the discussion of driving arrangements came up, I exchanged a grin with Carlisle quickly.

"Carlisle are you sure you don't mind the boys all going with you?" Nick's dad asked, he looked concerned, not for his son's well being of course, there wasn't an problem with that, but for the well being of Carlisle's car taking five boys in it.

"It's not a problem, if it can survive Chris and his brothers, it can survive anything." Carlisle replied nudging me gently.

"Well, now that's settled," Mr. Cooper, said standing up again "we should hit the road, it's going to take about three hours to get to the stadium, and we have dinner reservations for five. The restaurants right near Safeco field, so it's within walking distance." I glanced over at Carlisle again, my eyes expressing my feelings on a restaurant clearly. Carlisle returned the look quickly and grumbling I accepted defeat.

"Shot-gun!" Paul exclaimed as we headed outside, I exchanged a look with Steve, Patrick, and Nick and we all burst out laughing.

"Nice try Paul," I spoke up, and he looked at me confused "I think if anyone should be riding shot-gun its Steve, he's got longer legs then the rest of us. It makes more sense for us four to be crammed in the backseat."

Paul made a face, but relinquished the passenger seat to Steve, seeing my point. Carlisle's car isnt tiny, it's not as cramped as the backseat of Edward's Volvo, but it's not real roomy either, especially with my friends.

Over the last few months, my friends have all had major growth spurts, so I'm easily the smallest of the group now, so if it's just me, Paul, Patrick, and Nick in the backseat, it won't be as cramped if Steve was back there instead of me. I did however manage to convince them to let me sit near the window, claiming I got car sick easy. I don't of course, but I also don't like sitting in the middle of the backseat, I get fidgety and as I've been told by my sibling, annoying.

After the dads gave Carlisle one last sympathetic head shake, he slid into the driver seat and turned to look at the group of us. The grin on Paul's face was contagious and before we knew what was happening all five of us were grinning like jack-o-lanterns and laughing.

"Right," Carlisle replied starting the car up "well then boys lets get this show on the road, seatbelts back there, and Steven, you may change the radio station but I decide where the dial lands." He finished pulling out onto the road behind Paul's dad, the look on Steve's face was hilarious, it actually caused us to all burst out laughing again.

xxx

Sorry for the delay in updating everyone, with Christmas break within grasp I've had zero time to work on any of my fics much to my annoyance. Hopefully I will be able to sit and enjoy a lot of free-time over the next few weeks to work on this and a couple of my other fics.

Also and more importantly I want to express my deepest sympathy and sorrow to the families affected by the Newtown Massacre in Connecticut For those of you not aware, on Friday the 14th, a gunman forced his way into an elementary school and murdered 20 kids ages 6 and 7, and 6 teachers who tried to protect them, before turning the gun on himself. The same day in China a madman slashed 23 kids and a teacher with a knife. This weekend has been full of mourning and remembering the victims all across the country and especially in my home area because Connecticut a part of New England, where I am from, so this shooting hits close to home on so many levels.

Life is to short to be concerned with petty things, the events of this weekend prove this.

"It has been said, 'time heals all wounds.' I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone."  
― Rose Kennedy


	12. Chapter 12

XXX

I was still pretty stunned how calm my buddies were. I mean Carlisle is one of the last ones in my family who give off the 'not safe, be afraid' vibe that most humans seem to sense with us, but still…in some way all of us give off that vibe, even Carlisle.

However, overlooking the fact that my father was already in a high league because of his Mercedes (a pretty big deal in a small town consisting mainly of Chevy, Ford, Jeep, and the occasional Toyota) everyone pretty much knows him from the hospital, they respect him, they trust him, he gives off this calming demeanor that emulates to those around him. It's not like Jasper's ability where he makes you feel calm; with Carlisle you can't help but trust him. I mean I told him as a perfect stranger I trusted him to save my life by turning me into a vampire, not everyone can do that, but he can.

But the fact that no one was nervous or even hesitant about being in the cramped car with us, (well I should say me) it got me thinking. Alice has been planning a graduation party for Bella, Edward, and of course herself, allowing Alice to be in charge of any kind of party planning is dangerous, but this one was slowing proving to be exceptionally dangerous.

Why, well, for starters she planned on inviting EVERYONE from the senior class to this thing, making it a real graduation party, food, dancing, the works. Something I am really not looking forward to, I'm not a party guy, even as a human I wasn't, I had my mates I hung out with, the small group of us, but it never escalated into a huge gathering, the biggest gathering we ever had was outings to the cinema as a group, nine ten of us surrounded by about thirty or so other kids who we may or not have known, and the occasional adult that joined us,

So my original plan for the party was to hibernate up in my room or the loft all night long or even the section of the house above the garage, I've been slowly cleaning it out up there and creating a real living space, a kind of gaming/media room, I've even taken some measurements for a pool-table. I'm hoping by graduation it will be done, because while Alice is having her party, I'm hoping to be entertaining my own guests.

If the guys were okay with a three hour car ride with Carlisle and I, then it shouldn't be a problem to have my group of friends over the house for the graduation party. It would keep me away from the party and the pack of nervous graduates and I wouldn't be bored out of my mind. Besides, knowing my sister she'd probably put me to work somehow, bouncer or waiter and I really didn't want to do that.

I was so deep in thought, that Patrick must've thought I'd fallen asleep, because the next thing I know he was elbowing me gently in the ribs. We were pulling in behind Mr. Cooper into a parking garage and went up a few flights before Mr. Cooper found the spot he was looking for, with a spot right next to it, on the second level.

It was kind of surprising how empty the place was, especially it being a beautiful Friday night and the Mariner playing at home only blocks away.

I guess it was the whole possible serial killer loose in Seattle that had everyone edge, it still hadn't become major headlines, but it was slowly reaching that point, obviously the city, even the state felt it as a whole, they knew something wasn't right and that meant a lot of people were avoiding the city.

Carlisle pulled into the parking spot next to Mr. Cooper and we slowly piled out of the Mercedes

"Whew, what a drive that was." Patrick's dad Mr. Donnor exclaimed loudly, as he slid out of Mr. Cooper's Ford Explorer.

"You said it dad," Patrick concurred as his dad patted him on the shoulder.

"Well boys, whose hungry?" Mr. Cooper asked, throwing his arm around Paul's shoulders.

"Food!" All four of my friends shouted.

Nick elbowed my ribs gently and I rolled my eyes, both at the prospect of a restaurant and at his careful nudge. My friends have apparently come to the conclusion that I'm fragile or something. It's ironic because I'm about as fragile as a boulder, but I'm so much smaller then they are now. Not to mention of course they figured they had a justifiable reason to treat me like I was breakable.

It started with Marie's graduation party last year, a pool party. I had been hesitant about the whole party idea to begin with, but Carlisle and Esme convinced me to go, and of course they had been right, there was no way I could be that close to water and not want to go in.

Luckily it had been a cloudy day so I was able to enjoy the pool, while I was accepted into Marie's group of friends, now mine as well. The only problem was, I should've kept a shirt on, but I didn't and though no one said anything, it was obvious how emaciated I am and I know they all saw my skinny almost sickly pale body.

I was turned during the Second World War, rations were sought after commodities all over Europe and Asia, and pretty much no one had any fattening food. I mean I don't remember what a Hersey bar tastes like, the last time I had one was right after England declared war on Germany, right before the rations started.

In the year between Germany invading Poland and my last moments human, I must have lost about fifteen pounds, which doesn't sound all that bad, except when you barely weigh eighty-five pounds to begin with and then drop down seventy in one short year. Anyways, that's just the start of why Nick and the others think I'm breakable.

It was different when I was about their size maybe a little bigger when we were all in sixth and seventh grade. Then last year most of them had nasty growth spurts putting nearly all of them, minus Nick a good head taller then me, Nick however joined the rest of them while we Cullens were gone over the winter. When I got back I was disappointed, but not surprised to find I was the smallest of my group of friends, even the girls are either my height or in Sarah's case, taller then me.

It was all starting to play into a decision on whether or not I would be returning to Forks High in the fall for sophomore year, I didn't think I could pull off a fifteen year old much longer let alone a sixteen year old I would be "turning" next December. Needless to say, the idea of really saying goodbye to my friends in Forks was making my stomach twist a bit, I was getting to close and I knew it. I had made some great friends and I wasn't really ready to let it all go just yet.

Nick gave me a goofy grin, pulling me out of my thoughts, to which I was thankful for, this was supposed to be a fun time, even with the food prospect, and if things went a certain way, this would be one of my last hurrahs with this group of guys, leaving two more, the dance and Edward, Bella, and Alice's graduation party.

"Come on Chris, chow!" Nick exclaimed, Carlisle looked over at me and gave me an expectant look. I knew I had to at least act the part, whether I was excited or not.

"Let's go fellas!" Mr. Cooper said loudly, ushering all of us towards the lift. I stopped dead in my tracks and gave Carlisle a look that clearly said 'oh hell no'.

I'm not a fan of enclosed spaces, we think it has something to do with my near death, which caused me to be brought to Carlisle in the first place, it's part of the reason I don't like planes (and believe me its only part of the reason).

"Yeah I'll take the stairs," I spoke up when the lift reached our floor and the doors opened. It looked barely bigger then a dumbwaiter (okay I'm embellishing here, but seriously a sardine can was bigger.)

"Come on, it's only two floors," Paul spoke up giving me a gentle shove towards the lift. I made one more pleading face at my father who nodded

"Chris has a little phobia about elevators, especially small ones." Carlisle explained "him and I will take the stairs and meet you all down stairs."

"Sounds good, see you in a few," Nick's dad Mr. Holmer replied as they all crowded into the tiny lift and the doors closed with a whoosh.

I took a deep breath

"Thanks dad," I said

"Don't mention it Chris, it did appear to be a somewhat tight squeeze into that lift."

"You're telling me, that thing is like a coffin on cables."

We made our way down the two flights of stairs, taking our time. I wanted to rush the stairs and see if I could beat the lift, which I knew I could, but I also knew there was probably cameras all over the place it would look really freaky to some poor security guard.

We ended up getting there at the same time as the lift, as the guys piled out groaning and complaining about the tight quarters in the lift, I stood there in front of them, arms across my chest, grinning smugly.

"Okay, so Chris had the right idea, next time, I'm listening to the claustrophobic one." Steven spoke up "that sucked."

We followed Mr. Cooper out of the parking garage and down the street. I could see the outline of Safeco field in the distance; the sun had just barely started to set, so it would be a while before the lights went on.

The restaurant that Mr. Cooper was raving about blew me away from the moment we walked in. It was huge for one thing and didn't look that big from the outside, and for another it was very night-clubish, with fiery red on one side and ice blue on the other.

"Welcome to Fire and Ice gentlemen," the host greeted as we walked in,

"Hello, I called earlier in the day, made a reservation for ten of us?" Mr. Cooper replied "under Cooper?"

"Of course, right here, are you folks okay with the ice section? Our largest tables are on that side."

"Sure, sounds fine."

"Is there anyone in your party who hasn't been here or one of our other restaurants before?" the host asked,

Mr. Cooper looked at the group of us; dads and kids. It was a solid mix, Steve, Paul of course, and Nick and their dads had all been to the restaurant before, Patrick and his dad hadn't been and well it was a given that Carlisle and I hadn't either.

"Looks like some have, some haven't." Mr. Cooper said

"Well, tell you what, let me bring you guys to your table and those of you who haven't been before I'll give the grand tour."

I exchanged a look with Carlisle as we followed the group to our table, we both apparently were thinking the same thing, I just asked first

"Why would we need a tour of a restaurant?" I whispered so no else could hear, not that it mattered, it was so loud in this restaurant I could've been speaking in regular tone and no one but someone with vampire hearing would've heard me.

Carlisle gave me a look before shrugging

"I do not know Chris," he answered

"I mean, do restaurants typically let customers into the kitchens to check the cleanliness?"

Carlisle chuckled

"Chris I do not know, why are you asking me?"

I grinned at my father and shrugged

"You're convenient?" I replied and Carlisle tapped the brim of my hat.

As we walked towards our table I did a double take. I've been to a restaurant a total of twice since becoming a vampire and a dozen or so times if you add in my human childhood. My mum loved to cook and therefore we did not dine out much, but in my memory I have never seen a restaurant like this one.

The host showed us our table, then gestured for Patrick, Mr. Donnon, Carlisle, and I to follow him.

He showed us the different stations and explained that we could come up as many times as we wanted and fill our plates with whatever combination we wanted. There was a meat station, a fish station, a vegetable station, even an ice cream bar. But what was surprising was the fact that all the food was raw, even the meat and fish.

"Sushi?" Patrick whispered to me and I shrugged

"I thought sushi was seafood," I replied "though it could be beef tartar." I gestured to the beef station.

"Beef tartar?" Patrick asked "what the hell is that?"

I grinned

"Raw beef, it's a French delicacy."

"Raw beef?" Patrick turned a little green "the French are some of the best chefs in the world, they rule the culinary world and their delicacy is raw beef?"

My grin widened

"Rule the culinary world?" I asked chuckling

"I watch the food network, back off Cullen, don't judge me."

"Oh believe me, I judge you Patrick, but that is only the tip of the ice-burg." I paused "since when are you a food nut?" Patrick went a little red with embarrassment "Patrick?"

"I'm thinking of applying to culinary colleges starting next year, there's a bunch around the country that are high standards."

"Seriously? I had no idea, that's cool. Have you thought about going outside the country?" I asked

Patrick raised his eye brow

"Huh?"

"Le Cordon Bleu?"

"In Paris?" Patrick kind of squeaked "dude, that's top of the top. I'd never get in there."

"They look for talent Patrick, if you've got it, which I bet you do, it's worth a shot applying. You never know if you don't try."

The host brought us away from the food, explaining how we were to bring our chosen meal up to the grill. It was a giant round stone grill with about six guys standing around it cooking the food in a line. Customers were lined up around the outskirts of the grill leaning on counter tops with plates waiting for the cooking food. It was beyond bizarre to me and a little amusing; it was a neat idea, albeit a weird one.

"So just bring your plates here, they'll cook it to your satisfaction and your good to go."

"And we can really go up as many times as we want?" Patrick asked, his eyes scanning the food selections, I could practically see him drooling.

"As much as you can eat," the host replied "mix and match, use different sauces, whatever combination you can concoct."

"This is so sweet!" Patrick exclaimed hitting my shoulder "the ultimate all you can eat restaurant."

"Awesome!" I replied trying to sound as enthusiastic as my friend.

It was amazing how much food my pals could pack away, I mean Steve alone went up for thirds and I think even fourths and his plate was piled high. Carlisle and I did our best to blend in, pretending to eat by moving things around the plate and only taking minimal amounts at a time.

Not that it mattered, everyone was having to much of a good time to notice Carlisle and I weren't really eating. We were laughing and joking around, discussing the upcoming game, the dance, and the end of our freshman year. The dads joined our conversation, offering us advice on both the dance and the girls in general. It really was a lot of fun and was honestly one of the best experiences in a restaurant I'd ever had.

After dinner we made our way to Safeco Field. Mr. Cooper handed us our tickets and once we got through security and got our tickets scanned, we headed inside the stadium. I've been to enough sporting events that it takes a lot to impress me, Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts for the Patriots football team, really impressive. Safeco field was pretty impressive in its own rights and the seats were pretty unbelievable, I mean we were right behind the Mariners dugout and the few players that were already inside willing signed baseballs for us.

Once the game got started I didn't think about anything else, but the game, I was having way too much fun. The atmosphere I felt all around me and the excitement I was seeing on my friends faces, it was contagious, and I couldn't help but feel it too.

Despite all the food the guys had eaten at the restaurant, it didn't stop them from wolfing down hotdogs, popcorn, and a huge box of crackerjacks. We cheered when the Mariners did something brilliant, booed when the Orioles did the same, and threw food in the air in celebration when one of the Mariners belted the ball far into the outfield allowing for a Grand Slam to promise a Mariner victory.

I didn't think about my true purpose for going into Seattle once and by the time the Mariners threw the last out to win the game and we started back to the garage, it finally dawned on me, hitting me like Emmett had just tackled me, but it took nine innings to do so. We were walking down the street towards the parking garage; we were nearly there when it started.

It really started with just a feeling, Mr. Cooper and Paul were in the lead, and Carlisle and I were bringing up the rear of the pack. I felt like someone was watching us, boring deep into my back making my hair stand on end.

I looked behind me, my sharp eyes scanning for movement or worse another pair of eyes staring back at me, but I didn't see anything. I didn't hear anything outside of the normal sounds of the city. Carlisle felt me stiffen next to him and looked at me, concern in his eyes

"Christian?" he asked, "What's wrong son?"

"There's someone following us." I gave the air a sniff and Carlisle followed suit, but the look we exchanged was identical, neither of us smelled anything out of the ordinary. The sounds and smell of the city was messing with my senses, only my profile and my feelings were clueing me into something different. "Do you smell anything?" I whispered and Carlisle shook his head.

"No I do not." He paused looking down the street behind us "did you see something?"

"No, and that's what's worrying me, I feel something, but I can't prove it-"

I saw a flash of a shadow rushing down an ally-way, I knew I wasn't imagining things and this time Carlisle saw it too, we looked at each other quickly and I started to run towards the shadow, the body attached to the shadow was not moving at a human speed, they were moving at vampire speed.

Carlisle grabbed the collar of my shirt and yanked me back stopping me from following. A good dozen paces up the street, the rest of the group was nearing the parking garage.

"Chris no,"

"But Carlisle, whoever it is they're following us! We've got to protect-"

"We need to get them out of the city as quickly as possible." Carlisle replied gently

"What if that's who is causing the disappearances and deaths here? We can't just let it go unchecked like this."

"And we won't, we need to discuss this with the family first, but right now our priority is protecting our human friends, come on." I still didn't move, watching where the shadow had gone to "Christian, now."

I reluctantly followed my father as we caught up to the group, but I didn't stop looking over my shoulder, just waiting to be jumped at any second. The feeling didn't stop even when we made it to the parking garage. I wasn't about to leave the guys and their dads alone for a moment so I willingly got into the lift.

The entire drive home I was on edge, I couldn't wait to get out of the city and as the chatter from Paul, Steve, Nick, and Patrick slowly died down as each of them fell asleep, leaving only Carlisle and I awake. Carlisle kept glancing in the rear-view mirror to check on me, giving me a gentle smile every once in a while. I sighed and looked behind me again, at the dimming city lights far off in the distance.

"We'll figure it out Chris, I promise." He whispered so not to wake the guys

"I know, I just hate leaving things like that."

"I know you do Chris, but we have to look at the bigger picture, above the profile, don't worry, we won't let this go." He raised his voice back to a normal speaking tone, just in case not everyone was totally asleep "you should get some sleep son, it's been a long day." Carlisle gave me a cheeky grin which I returned

"Right dad, you say so."

xxx

Okay just a couple of things folks. First off the restaurant I mentioned in this, well it is a real restaurant but it does not exist in Seattle, it's really called Fire and Ice and how I described it is exactly the set up of the restaurant it's a fun place to go to and I thought it would be amusing to put it there. Also secondly I had to adjust the time from the real game to make it fit for the fic, so the Mariners really did play the Oriols on the 25th of May 2006, but it was an early game and I don't know if the Mariners actually won or not, I had to take some liberties.

Finally, this update is coming today for two reasons, one it's Christmas Eve so it's my Christmas present to all you guys. And secondly for those who have been following my fics since the beginning, today of course is Chris's birthday. He is 86 today, 12/24/26 so I thought it be cool to update this on this date in particular, so I was up till 2 this morning typing like a nutcase.

So Happy Christmas to everyone, hope everyone has a safe holiday and Santa is good to you all! Till next update!


	13. Chapter 13

By the time we got home after dropping the guys off it was pretty late, nearly one in the morning. Carlisle and I barely had a moment to change or me feed Chap, before we grabbed some unnecessary gear, said goodbye to Esme, Rose, and Alice, and hopped back into the car, driving south to meet up with my brothers.

It was early Saturday morning by the time we got to the national park, even driving at vampire speed, we still had a good few hour drive. Emmett's jeep was parked near the ranger's station, under the pretense of a camping trip.

As soon as Carlisle parked the Mercedes next to the giant Wrangler, the park ranger emerged, looking at us suspiciously. I pulled out my backpack, we both tried our best to look the part of normal hikers/campers.

"Can I help you folks?" the ranger asked holding his clipboard "you heading out on the trail?

"Yes, my three older sons should've arrived yesterday, that's their jeep we're all meeting today for the remainder of the weekend, camping."

"Oh right, yes here we are, Edward, Jasper, and Emmett Cullen."

"That's them."

"And your names?"

"Carlisle Cullen, and my youngest son Chris."

"according to this you guys are pretty far out off the trail, does that sound right?"

"We've been coming here for years, we have a designated spot, we like the seclusion."

"Right," the ranger said again "well, take care then. I did give your kids a heads up, we've had a problem with mountain lions in the area, no one's been attacked yet, but they are wandering into campsites, even ones that are occupied."

I resisted the grin, Edward must be in his glory with news like that. Each one of us is partial to a certain critter and Edward's is most certainly mountain lion and an abundance of them would certainly make my brother happy; it was not outside the realm of curiosity to wonder how he was coping without Bella for the weekend. I wouldn't be surprised if he was having Alice tail her all day to make sure she stayed safe. My brother's "must protect Bella from the world" routine had not waned since their encounter with the Volturi, if anything it's gotten worse.

"How many have been spotted?" I asked the ranger looked at me cautiously like he didn't really want to answer my question.

"well, in all honesty none. We just found a couple of paw prints that belong to at least three or four mountain lions in the camping sites. We're just giving everyone a heads up." He paused and I could see the sweat dripping from his face, he looked really uncomfortable all of a sudden and one thing was perfectly clear to me, he wasn't telling us the whole story, or even the truth for that matter. Though I was curious, I hoped that if it was something serious he wouldn't like to us, but I was still suspicious. "Well have fun folks, fire in fire pits only." And with that he headed back into his office

Carlisle locked up the Mercedes and we headed up the trail at a human pace. Once we were out of sight of the rangers station, we exchanged a grin before bursting into a run.

We dodged trees and bushes, following the trail deeper and deeper into the national park. Though it was only the end of May, it was kind of odd the lack of hikers and campers, the last time we went "camping" here had been last August and it was packed with visitors in the regular camping areas. And the last time we were here in May right around the same time as this time around, well it was just as packed.

Fortunately we go deeper into the woods way off the beaten path where most people don't venture to do our hunting. We leave our supplies and two tents set up in the camping spot we select and the rangers know about and we are always back at the site for a couple of hours past sundown, before venturing off again, just in case the rangers make an unannounced visit to our site. It's only happened once, but we have to put on the show of just being regular humans, a dad and his four boys enjoying some time together in the great outdoors.

The ranger's body language was still weighing on my mind, something clearly wasn't right and I wondered if that had been the same ranger my brothers had encountered. I was hoping Edward had read his mind and could fill us in on what was really going on.

We found the site with all of the supplies, Edward, Jasper, and Emmett, must've been out hunting because everything was set up, but they weren't around. Their trail however wasn't hard to find, neither was a couple of mountain lions my brothers were apparently trying to track without me. We dropped our own stuff amongst the other camping equipment and headed out to find Edward, Emmett, and Jasper.

We followed the trail a few miles or so away from the campsite. My brothers weren't hard to find, in fact I don't think they could've been more obvious, I was surprised someone hadn't reported the noise to the rangers. They weren't even hunting at this point, they were goofing off, wrestling with full strength, taking full advantage of Esme not being present to reprimand them. I grinned excellent, I could get a few hits in on them and not have to hear the endless 'go easy with Christian, he's smaller then you are' that Esme with good intention of course is always telling my brothers.

Carlisle glanced over at me, just as a cracking noise filled the area, I raised an eyebrow looking around for the source quickly, before pushing my father to one side of the trail as a rotted tree that shouldn't have made a cracking noise, came crashing down in between us. I covered my mouth trying not to laugh; my brothers were in for it.

On the other side of the tree, brushing dirt from his jeans and shaking bits of bark from his hair was Emmett,

"That was awesome, did you see it crack!?" he exclaimed, not noticing Carlisle and I at first. Edward and Jasper both did, their eyes went wide, Edward was nodding behind Emmett and he wasn't getting the hint.

"Emmett," Carlisle said in his rarely used authoritative tone, I was still trying not to laugh as Emmett went stiff, not wanting to look behind him.

"Hi Dad," he said calmly, a grin sliding across his face as he regrettably and slowly turned around to face Carlisle "make it up okay?"

Carlisle sighed and rubbed his temple, it was hard to stay mad at Emmett sometimes and Carlisle knows this.

"Emmett the tree, care to explain?" Carlisle said slowly, gesturing behind him

"Right, that was an accident." Emmett replied shrugging

"What if that had been a random hiker and not Chris and I?"

Emmett's grin faltered a little, then it returned as he spotted me, and the snorts that were escaping me. Jasper and Edward were also trying not to laugh; they just held it in better then me.

"Dr. Doolittle!" Emmett exclaimed, "How was the game?"

"Smashing, but apparently not as smashing as your night."

"I really expect some maturity from you guys," Carlisle spoke up trying to reclaim the conversation, he was just trying to make a point, he wasn't mad. But it was true, that had been a stupid move on my brothers' part, Edward shot me a glare and I shrugged, it was.

"Carlisle, we double checked the area before hand. We are basically the only campers here this weekend," Jasper stepped in "this mountain lion scare has people staying away. The rangers tried to convince us to postpone as well."

I looked over at my father quickly.

"They didn't try to stop us, they just told us the lions have been coming into camping areas, but the way the ranger said it, something didn't feel right."

"We've been out here since yesterday afternoon." Emmett said "we've seen three lions, one that was stupid enough to check out base camp, and the other two last night." Emmett paused "it sounds ridiculous, but even the lions looked spooked and it wasn't because of us."

"The ranger said they hadn't actually seen any lions, just remnants of them, but like I said he was acting weird, like he wasn't telling the whole truth."

Edward cleared his throat

"That would be because he wasn't."

"I knew it," I hissed to no one in particular

"What exactly did you read Edward?" Carlisle asked

"They're trying to keep it under wrap, blaming the mountain lions seems to be the only option."

"People have been killed haven't they?" I asked even though I was pretty sure of the answer, Edward nodded

"Two so far, two different hikers on two different trails, only days apart."

"And why haven't they closed the trails down? Why are they still letting people up here?" I exclaimed, it wasn't really a question I knew why. To close the area to hikers and campers would insight panic as to why, a killer mountain lion loose in the national park, not exactly good for business.

The rangers rely on money they receive from hikers and campers to properly do their job, no visitors, no need for so many rangers. It's job security, not to mention, camping in a national park, it's basically saying camp at your own risk.

"Two people?" Carlisle asked

I looked at Edward, studying his face, he was clearly holding something back, I know that look.

"There's more to it," I spoke up my profile going nuts, telling me that whatever Edward had read in the ranger's mind was unsettling with him, not a good sign.

Edward sighed and nodded

"The victims, their wounds didn't match any of the bite-marks of a typical mountain lion or any wild cat for that matter, the two hikers both were basically torn to shreds." He paused, apparently he hadn't told Jasper or Emmett this either because they looked as stunned as Carlisle, I wasn't stunned I knew what was coming, I had hoped I was wrong. "The ranger kept playing the scenario in his mind, they found the bodies in the same spot one day after the other, but suspected the lion dragged them from the spot it killed them for some reason." Edward was dancing around the subject, either because it bothered him so much or he was afraid how we'd react, at this point either reason seemed plausible.

But he was taking to long for my liking, I took a deep breath, I knew what he was trying to tell us, it was written all over his face.

"There was no blood on the ground." I said softly "and the bodies were pretty much drained." I looked at Edward, his face telling me I was correct

Now Emmett, Jasper, and Carlisle exchanged a look, it was normal for us to run into nomads from time to time, an unfortunate hiker or two becomes a meal, it's not uncommon, it's sad, but not out of the ordinary. We do our best to protect those in and around Forks, I wish we could stop ever nomad that decides to make a lunch date out of citizens of Washington State, but it is a big state and unfortunately we can't protect every square inch of it.

Up until our encounter with the tracker, his mate, and Laurent, we hadn't had any nomads wander into our direct territory, or even hunt in our area for that matter, at least not in a long time we're talking decades.

Granted this area wasn't our territory, the area around Forks and the Olympic peninsula, even up to Port Angeles we consider that under our protection. Seattle is pushing our territory, but I mean it's right in our own backyard so it makes sense we're keeping an eye on it, just in case everything going on there right now is more supernatural related. This was even more so after what I had seen, walking back to the garage after the game. I know I had seen one of our kind, I just couldn't prove it.

"Nomads?" Emmett asked Edward, who shrugged "This doesn't have anything to with Seattle does it?"

"We still do not know if Seattle should concern us, but I certainly think it's beginning too" Jasper spoke up, he looked at me, he could feel my change in emotions when he mentioned Seattle; he knew something had happened to shake me up a bit, and since it takes a lot to really scare me or even make me a little nervous. Knowing how things are typically going to play out, doesn't really leave room for a lot of fear on a normal scale.

I quickly told my brothers what had happened in Seattle, both my feeling tying into my profile and then the physical form of someone moving at vampire speed down the alley.

The three of them were equally stunned even though Edward had seen the whole thing play out in my mind before hand, he still was unnerved, rightfully so.

"Chris, why don't you and I take a walk, you hunted the other day right are you good for a little bit?" Edward asked and I nodded I could tell he had already hunted too, probably involved a bet between him, Jaz, and Em and he won finding the mountain lion first.

Carlisle knew what Edward was doing and of course I did as well. He was going to show me where the bodies had been found, let me profile it, he knew I could probably do what the rangers had been unable to do, figure out where the hikers had been dragged FROM. Carlisle nodded his approval

"We'll meet you both back at the camp site at sundown." He instructed, Edward and I both gave a nod of agreement before bolting into the woods.

Edward's the fastest in the family, but I'm a close second so even though we had a grim task ahead of us, he couldn't help but goofing a little bit, something that has been pretty rare with my brother as of late. He sped up and dodged trees trying to lose me (jokingly of course) but he couldn't lose me. Even if by some miracle he could beat me in a race by a wide berth, I could track him, he'd never be able to hide. Even when I was human, I was the king of hide and seek; my cousins learned that the hard way, as did my friends.

Edward's other problem was he was having a good time and therefore was laughing so loud it was impossible to lose him anyways.

"So how was the game?" he asked I as I caught up to him and we matched our speed

"It was fun, got some autographed balls for you guys."

"Did you enjoy the restaurant?"

"Yeah, it was weird, I don't know if all restaurants are typically like that, but it was definitely an experience. The guys enjoyed it, it was an all you can eat buffet, I didn't think anyone could eat that much. I swear Steve went up like four times, if not more. Then they ate at the game too. But just for the experience we should make a family trip out of it, it'll blow you away I'm telling you."

Edward chuckled at that then stopped suddenly as we reached our destination. It didn't look like anything out of the ordinary, a small clearing just off the trail. We were deep in the woods, whoever the hikers had been they were obviously experienced survivalists, used to hiking extreme conditions and living off the land. I looked around carefully, examining the trees and the ground. I mean it had been a week or so since the second body had been found.

"Well, what do you see?" Edward asked, he had access to my mind of course, but wanted to hear what I had to say.

The scent of blood was still heavy in the air, even a week following the second incident. The park rangers may not have noticed any blood, but I did. It had soaked into the ground as the hiker was dragged from the killing spot, to here. Both hikers were dragged here, something that wasn't really characteristic of our kind. We have no reason to drag a human anywhere. Even a full grown adult man isnt a match for us, even for someone my size or Alice's.

A large cat might drag it's prey to a certain spot, especially if it is feeding cubs, but the behavior and the lack of blood found at the scene at least visible to the human eye, that was still mind boggling, even for a profiler. Edward had said the hikers were drained and even though some blood was still here, it wasn't as much as should've been from a large cat attack.

"I'm just assuming the body was found here," I sniffed the air a bit, then knelt down giving the ground a sniff, "actually I'm pretty sure both bodies were put here." I emphasized put, I was now 99% sure that a cat couldn't have done this or any other kind of non-supernatural predator. I had to be 100% sure though, I had to see where the hikers were dragged from, the original attack site that would tell me the exact guilty creature. And if this was vampire related, I hoped we could figure out why he or she would go to this trouble to drag (not carry) their victim here and if this was just a one time deal or did we need to be concerned about this.

Edward was just about to reply when I caught the scent of the blood trail, mixed with some kind of cologne or perfume. The ground had been disturbed by people and animals walking here, but it was definitely a trail that could be followed.

I bolted, following the path one or perhaps even both hikers were dragged over. Edward followed close behind, my profile was in overdrive, I could visualize the entire scene. I could see a mountain lion dragging a lifeless body towards it's hungry cubs, but the stronger the trail got, the less sure that profile seemed to the point where I could see it playing out more with a vampire as the perpetrator.

Just off an overgrown part of the trail, with a scent of recent visitors stopped me in my tracks. This was it, this was ground zero, almost two miles from the dump site. No mountain lion would go that far from her cubs and would therefore have no reason to drag a body two miles down a hiking trail.

"This it?" Edward asked looking around the clearing carefully and I nodded

"The first hiker, he was coming up the trail, he brushed up against this tree." I leaned closer to a tree nearest the trail and gave it a sniff, I wrinkled my nose, the guy had drowned himself in cologne and hair gel, it was burning my nose a little, but it gave me another clue to the puzzle.

"Chris?"

"He was meeting someone here."

"The other hiker?"

"Maybe," I replied "was the other hiker a woman?" Edward nodded "yeah so must've been her. How many days apart were the bodies found?"

"Two," Edward replied leaning against a tree. "but the ranger suspected the second hiker had been killed the same time as the first. But of course he's not a coroner, he was just guessing."

"I bet they were going hiking together when they were ambushed, and I bet the ranger wasn't to far off in his estimate, they probably were killed at the same time." I looked around carefully, the trail wasn't anything spectacular, an experienced hiker could have fun with it but it wouldn't be beyond possibility for an armature to attempt it. There had to be something else that brought the couple here, my body went numb as I spotted it "and I think I know where they were going." I paused "oh hell that's ironic."

Edward looked to where I was pointing, a cave, kind of obscured against the thick tree line of the hill, but it was clearly a hiking favorite, I could smell hundreds of people passing by it and into it the closer I got.

It was however the sign that I was referring to, right at the entrance to the cave, 'Dead Man's Crystal Caverns, enter at own risk.'

Edward and I both made a face and moved to the entrance. I wanted to explore it and I know my brother did too. We were about to go in when my phone began vibrating. I quickly dug it out of my pocket and raised my eyebrow, it was Alice.

Edward saw the confusion on my face and narrowed his eyes at me, I decided right then and there just to block him out my mind as best I could, I mean he'd be able to hear us anyways.

"Er, hey Alice, sup?" I asked casually turning my back on the glare from my brother.

"Is Edward with you?" Alice asked, I had been concerned, it's not like Alice to call out of the blue like this when we're hunting or in this case playing CSI. But I didn't hear any real worry in Alice's voice, just utter annoyance and I hoped for a second it was directed at Edward and not me.

"Yeah, him and I were hiking ahead of the others," it wasn't an outright lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either. I had a sinking feeling the call was about Bella somehow, and the fact that Alice was more annoyed then concerned well it made me more concerned at Edward's overreaction then if Bella had done something, well, Bella-ish.

"Bella's future disappeared. She went down to the reservation."

"Oh, okay," I replied, knowing Edward would be giving Bella an earful when we got home. I looked over at my brother and the look on his face, er, perhaps sooner then anticipated.

"Tell Edward not to panic, she's fine,"

"Yeah you know how that will end Alice," I grinned "see you," as soon as I hung up with my sister, Edward looked at me expectantly

"Chris come on we're finding the others."

I groaned

"Why?" I whined, I didn't mean to, but I wanted to explore that cave and figure out what had happened to the hikers, that and because of course my brother was doing what he does best, OVERREACT.

"Chris," Edward growled "I need you to track them."

Now it was my turn to glare

"Find 'em yourself Mapquest, you don't need me."

"I do so Carlisle doesn't think I abandoned you in the woods."

"And we all know I can take care of myself in the big scary forest," I paused "you're the one who couldn't track his way out of a paper bag."

Edward's glare intensified but we both knew I was right. I'm the best tracker in the family thanks to my ability. Emmett always jokes that I'm like a homing pigeon, no matter what I can find my way. He wants to test the theory someday by dropping me from a plane (this shows exactly how much thought he has put into this plane) into the middle of Yellowstone and letting me find my way home. Keep in mind, this little plan of his comes with a detailed drawing of the drop, my little stick figure character being dropped with a random parachute. Clearly my brother has way to much time on his hands, but the point is I could find the others faster then Edward could ever hope too.

"Fine, stay then,"

I felt my smart ass attitude creeping up on me and I knew I was probably going to piss him off even more, but I think I had passed that point.

"Yeah send Jasper if you can find him. I hope you have your passport ready just in case you make it to Mexico and try to cross the border 'cause you're hopelessly lost." It was immature I know, but in my defense, I am nearly three decades younger then him.

Edward didn't dignify that with a response, instead he growled at me once more and bolted down the path we had just come from.

"Bloody overprotective prat." I mumbled to myself kicking some dirt after him. I turned back to the cave and took a deep breath, something I hadn't noticed before hit me, a smell, a pretty nasty smell, like something was rotted. I prayed for a second hoping that what it was wasn't what I thought it was. I nearly turned back around, suggesting to myself to go get Emmett, Carlisle, and Jasper, the four of us investigate just in case. My curiosity however is enough to kill a few cats and I took a few steps forward into the cave.

As I was walking through I kicked something. I looked down at my feet and picked the object up, it was a wallet. Inside was all the owners cash, credit cards, license. It belonged to a Robert Yeltz of Indiana. I figured that must've been the first hiker and I wondered if the woman's stuff was in here too, however when I looked down the path way I got a little more then I bargained for…winding down the trail of the cave like breadcrumbs was a collection of wallets, both men's and women's.

"Oh bloody, bloody 'ell," I swore under my breath, that was enough of that I was getting my father and brothers.

As I ran at full speed from the cave, marking its' location in my mind, heading towards my brothers and father one thought kept rushing through my mind, either Crater Lake National Park had a serial killer on the loose, or they had a vampire with a serial killer's mind, neither one of those scenarios was something I was looking forward too. I did know one thing though, we had to get into that cave.

XXX

A/N: Thanks for the patience with this fic guys I really appreciate it. I did want to ask a huge favor from all of you, many of you guys know I have a prequel fic going when Alice and Jasper join the family, many of you also know I havent updated it in a while, the reason is writers block, I am so stuck in a rut on it I cant seem to dig my way out, so I'm asking you guys my fanfic friends for some much needed guidance on it any suggestion can help, the chapter that has provided this blockage is school starting up and Alice's first experience with that and what Chris and the rest of the Cullens do to help her through it and help Jasper through a school day without Alice. I appreciate any help I can get. The next chapter of this fic should be up by the weekend, if not Monday, it ties into this chapter so the delay won't be long. Thanks again everyone! And a special thanks to MissEllen who gave me a heads up about how the last paragraph sounded and what I needed to fix it!


	14. Chapter 14

XXXX

Finding my brothers and father wasn't tough, I mean tracking ability aside, I could hear them almost a mile away anyone with the noise they were making.

Carlisle had fooled Emmett when he acted concerned about the roughhousing/nature, but I mean he was kidding and doing a damn good job of it. When I got closer I scaled a tree and sat contently in the braches watching my family.

Emmett and Jasper had resumed their wrestling match and Carlisle was watching shaking his head and laughing at my brothers. When Emmett tried to tackle Jasper and missed, he slammed into Carlisle knocking our father into the dirt.

"I am so sorry," Emmett said putting his hand out to pull Carlisle to his feet, instead of

reprimanding Emmett, Carlisle simply brushed the dirt off of his trousers and smiled knowingly

"No harm done, Emmett, it's fine." He replied as Emmett turned back to Jasper. When Em wasn't looking, Carlisle glanced up at the tree I was sitting in and winked, grinning. I returned the grin and waved. Carlisle nodded at Emmett, giving me full permission for what I had intended to do anyway, but it's nice to have permission to do it.

I readied myself and took aim, jumping from my perch in the tree.

"Alba gu brath!" I shouted, landing smoothly on Emmett's shoulders, taking him not only by surprise, but down as well. Jasper and Carlisle burst out laughing, Carlisle had to lean on a tree for support and Jasper simply went to the ground they were both laughing so hard. Emmett was completely stunned, he jokingly clutched at his chest, but I knew I had gotten my brother, and I had gotten him good.

"Where the hell did you come from!?" he exclaimed clamoring to his feet. I stayed on the ground, I couldn't get up I was laughing to hard, instead I held my sides and rolled around, my laughter echoing in the clearing, I was laughing so hard, I nearly forgot about the cave, it felt really good to be laughing like this, especially after dealing with Edward's annoying over protectiveness and what could be potentially lurking in that cave.

"I…your…oh bloody hell," I managed to gasp out between hoots of laughter "you had no idea, you really had no idea, I can't believe I got you."

Emmett reached down and lifted me up, his hands under my arms, holding me off the ground a few feet so we were eye level. I was still choking out laughs and I could tell my brother was trying to hold his back as well.

"I will get you back Dr. Doolittle, mark my words." He growled in good humor "I will get you back. When you least expect it, expect it." I couldn't answer him, even though the last thing he said made no sense. I was still dying with laughter, it would be a good few minutes before I could speak properly. Emmett gave me a shake for good measure before dropping me to the ground. "What did you say anyways?" he asked, I knew his curiosity would get the better of my brother

"Scotland Forever," I replied with a grin

"That's your amazing battle cry?" Emmett shot back "you're a book worm that speaks how many languages? I pegged you for something better, more obscure, something in Latin or ancient Greek, but you go with Scottish, weren't you raised speaking Scottish? Isnt it like second nature to you? I mean seriously, if I could speak as many weird languages as you can I'd pick the most out there one to use as a battle cry."

Now I rolled my eyes

"Do you really want to play this game Em?" I asked. It wouldn't be the first time I've carried on a conversation in another language. One time Emmett annoyed me so much about my British accent that I went entire month speaking to him in only Gaelic, reminding him that there were worse alternatives to my speaking with an accent, at least then for the most part he could understand me.

Em started to reply, but then he changed his mind and shook his head, apparently deciding not to even bother. Besides, Jasper stepped in.

"So, Chris what did you say to Edward? He muttered something about hoping that you got eaten by a mountain goat before taking off." Jasper asked and I snorted back another laugh, because of that, it came out more like a hiccup, which set everyone off again laughing.

"I questioned his tracking skills,"

"Or lack thereof," Emmett said gently elbowing Carlisle

"Alice called, Bella went down to the reservation for a puppy play-date, she was more annoyed then concerned, but we all know Edward, he went back to Forks."

"He better not do something-" Jasper started to say

"Edward-ish?" I interrupted

"Yes."

"Anyways I mean I know the wolves are pretty dangerous, but in all fairness so are we. I mean I really don't think Jacob would ever hurt Bella, even unintentionally. I may not like the guy on a personal level, but I've profiled him, he cares about Bella, just as much as Edward does, and I think Bella is actually pretty safe with him and the rest of the pack." I paused and pushed my bangs back "if Bella can't be with us all the time, then the next best group I'd rather see her with is the wolves. They can protect her almost as well as we can."

"That's a different tune coming from you Christian," Carlisle said gently "so you do trust the wolves?"

"I trust them and their intentions. They're bound by their instincts and very being to protect those who are in what they consider their territory." I laughed a little "in a way they're like us, only more controlled by that instinct. We protect because we know it's right, they protect because it's instinct. It's fascinating actually."

"So Edward's going back to Forks to be overprotective, what are we doing?" Emmett asked, he got this gleam in his eyes and I figured he was about to tackle me. Just as he made the move I sidestepped and he hit the ground. "Damn it."

"Emmett," Carlisle warned before chuckling a bit

"Actually, I was wondering if you'd guys check out the cave with me." I reached down and helped Emmett to his feet

"What cave?" Jasper asked

"Edward and I…we found where the hikers were dragged from. It wasn't a mountain lion that killed them." I took a deep breath "I think it was…a vampire."

I hated to kill the fun mood, but we had to look into this, my information instantly killed the mood, as all three sobered up.

"Are you sure Chris?" Carlisle asked

"Positive, I started to go into the cave, after Edward bailed on me. I found something that is not a good sign."

"What did you find kid?" Emmett asked

"Wallets, tons of wallets, leading into the cave, the first one I found, I think it belonged to the first hiker, but there was definitely a mix of guys and women wallets in that cave. They were in a line, like enticing the finder into the cave." I paused "I could smell something rotting deep in the cave."

Carlisle, Emmett, and Jasper exchanged a look

"Chris," Carlisle started "show us this cave."

XXX

Carlisle held me back as Jasper and Emmett moved towards the cave. The smell had gotten worse if that was possible and I'm not sure how it did, but it only made my curiosity grow. I'm also not sure why Carlisle was holding me back, I mean I could've gone into this cave by myself, I decided not too though. I think my father was even more worried about what we were about to find in that cave, then the rest of us. He was pulling an Esme, holding onto at least one of us to reassure it would all be fine.

"Looks clear, you smell that though?" Jasper asked the three of us and we all nodded, "I'm going in to check it out. You guys coming?"

I looked up at Carlisle who nodded

"Lets go," he said.

We found the wallet trail easily; I exchanged a look with Jasper who was clearly unnerved by this. I didn't like that, Jasper isn't afraid of much, there isn't a lot that makes my former soldier brother nervous, but a potential serial killer, especially a vampire one that would definitely make anyone nervous.

The smell was getting worse the deeper into the cave we went, it wasn't just one or two things rotting, there was a lot more than that, four maybe five rotting something's in here and I wasn't really sure I wanted to know what the source was.

"How deep did you go?" Emmett asked

"Not this deep, I stopped when I found the first wallet, I knew something wasn't right and I wanted backup to explore further."

"Good call Chris," Carlisle pointed out, putting a hand on my shoulder "whatever we find in here, I'd rather us be together to find it."

"What are we going to do?" I asked him "I mean what if we find a pile of bodies in here, how do we handle that?" my profile was getting ahead of reality,

"We won't know until we check this out." Carlisle reminded me. Emmett held me back as Carlisle went ahead of Jasper towards the smell. If there was a pile of rotting bodies down here, they might be masking a fresh victim; Carlisle would be the best person to go check that out first.

Carlisle disappeared around the corner of the path and came back a second later. He looked relieved which made me feel a whole hell of a lot better.

"Well?" Jasper asked anxiously and I nodded quickly wishing my father would just tell us.

"The smell is decay, but it's not human, there is about five assorted animals in that cavern in various stages of decay."

I gently pushed past my father and darted into the room to see for myself. He was right, I saw the mutilated body parts of squirrels, rabbits, deer, raccoons, and even half of a bear, thrown in a pile to rot. I could smell the blood on the floor of the cave, it had soaked into the ground from the animals. Whatever had killed the animals had not drank from them, only mutilated them for some bizarre reason. The smell though was enough to make even a vampire gag, some of these critters had been rotting for weeks.

"But what about the wallets?" I asked quickly gesturing to the piles of them on the trail "there's got to be over a hundred here."

Emmett reached down and picked four of them up. He looked at each one carefully before tossing one to each of us

"They're all empty."

"What?!" I exclaimed "no way"

"See for yourself kid,"

I opened it up and shook my head, Emmett was right, no money no ID, nothing. I dropped the wallet and bolted back to the entrance of the cave where I had found Robert Yeltz's wallet, it was still there, right where I had dropped it. I matched it and the scent I had found in the forest clearing earlier, and then sniffed around until I found another wallet that matched the other scent. Both of these wallets still had the victims IDs and assorted valuables. I brought these to my brothers and father.

"These ones arent empty." I stated handing them over

"Are these the two hikers?" Emmett asked and I nodded

"But why the other wallets, I don't understand." Jasper muttered rubbing his chin

"Neither do I," Carlisle replied "something about this does not feel right. The hikers having been drained, yet very little blood spilt the trail Chris followed here to this cave."

"Not to mention PETA's worse nightmare in there." I added "and all these empty wallets, I don't get it." I paused "something is definitely wrong here, but I cant figure it out. I mean why would one of us go through all this trouble just for a meal. I mean it makes no sense." I rubbed my temple my profile was going nuts because I couldn't focus on one scenario, nothing made sense to me so my profile wasn't making sense.

"Well, what I do suggest is that we head back to our site and pack up. I think an anonymous call to the Ranger's office about this cave might be our best option. Let them try to figure out the source, best case scenario the park is closed temporarily so no one else is killed." Jasper said, we headed out of the cave; we tossed the wallets back into the cave where we had found them. It felt really good to be out in the fresh air

"I still have a funny feeling about this," I said as we started back to the site, we were running at this point, but not very fast, none of us seemed in the mood to race, not even Emmett.

"I know you do Chris, but there's not much we can do." Carlisle said, trying to reassure me "we cannot unfortunately protect every human from danger, even if that danger is our kind."

I nodded

"I know," I mumbled Carlisle put an arm around my shoulder and hugged me a little

"you know?" he asked "hm?" he pushed trying to get a smile out of me, it took a few seconds but I gave in and grinned at my father "that's better."

XX

Once we had the site broken down, we made our way back to the cars. The rangers didn't seem surprised that we were leaving early, in fact I think they were kind of glad.

I opted to go with Jasper in the Jeep; we had some things we needed to discuss, thankfully Carlisle didn't feel hurt. I think he wanted to talk to Emmett about something anyways. We followed the Mercedes out of the park and onto the main road. The first few minutes were silent, before I finally couldn't take the silence anymore

"Jasper do you think the wallets in the cave are connected with Seattle, or am I just being paranoid?"

Jasper took a deep breath as he shifted gears

"I don't think you're being paranoid Chris, you are the last person in this family who had a paranoia problem."

"Thanks," I replied, "I think"

"But I'm not sure about the connection, seems kind of coincidental doesn't it? I mean think about it, why would someone bring thirty or so wallets to an obscure cave in the middle of Oregon's Crater Lake National Park?"

"I don't understand it anymore then you do, but I know something isnt right. It's no coincidence that two hikers were killed a week ago and left in that spot. It's almost like whoever did it was taunting. Leaving just enough of a trail for someone with vampire senses to follow to that cave."

"But what makes you think it's connected to Seattle, it's kind of a stretch kid." Jasper pointed out and on a normal level I'd have to agree with him, but I had noticed something in that cave that no one else seemed to notice.

"Not entirely, especially when you realize the number of wallets we found in there, minus the two with identification, it nearly matches the number of missings from Seattle."

Now Jasper looked over at me quickly, he hadn't realized that, I don't think anyone had.

"Chris are you sure?"

"100% I counted them, you subtract the other two, and there was the exact number of wallets for each one of the people missing in Seattle." I paused "the missing ones, not the ones who were found dead. CNN reported the numbers yesterday, heard it when we were heading home from the game."

"And the shadow in the alleyway, how much of a profile did you get? I know it was a quick moment."

"Not long enough unfortunately, it was way to quick. It was definitely a vampire though, that scent was unmistaken and the way he moved, no human could move that fast. But it definitely felt like he was following us. I can't be sure though if it was Carlisle and I he was following or if it was just the group of us in general." I ran my fingers through my bangs thinking that over "Jasper, the last person who went missing, how old were they?"

"Sixteen, give or take. The authorities were brushing him off as at least eighteen so he was considered an adult, but an anonymous source called in a tip saying that he was actually fifteen, but because he was homeless, the news is making it sound like the police were overlooking him."

"Unfortunately, they're probably not far off. I mean he's a kid yeah, but a kid who's living on the streets avoiding the system in a huge city. He wouldn't really be seen as high priority. It's sad, but it's true."

The silence crept into the Jeep again as I stared out the window. Jasper waited a minute or two before clearing his throat, catching my attention.

"Chris, what are you thinking?"

I didn't answer my brother for a second or two, trying to come up with a good response, my profile was in overdrive from this weekend and for the first real time in my vampire life, I was having trouble sorting through it.

"Seattle has me concerned. All the clues that are adding up are telling me that there is a vampire in Seattle being an idiot. That explains the random murders. It doesn't however explain the ones who have gone missing. Are they dead and the police just haven't found their bodies? Or is there just no connection between the murders and the disappearances. It seems to be way to much of a coincidence, but I can't think of another reason, at least not a logical one." I took a deep breath "what do you think?"

"I think you're right Chris, we do need to be concerned, I'm just not sure of what yet. I hate to say it, but we need to wait and see. If this is a vampire being sloppy then we could be looking at more problems than just an obnoxious neighbor."

"You mean an unwanted visitor." I guessed "but they'd wait for proof that it's a vampire before stepping in, so they'd wait it out too. I mean for all we know this could be just the work of a regular human serial killer."

"And if it is there isnt much we can do about it, but if it is a vampire, we might have to step in and take care of it."

"Carlisle won't like that," I reminded Jasper

"I know he won't, but that's why we need to wait and see."

"Whatever is going on, we won't be waiting much longer I can feel that for certain." I said with a sigh "sooner or later, we're going to have to be involved somehow." I pulled out my phone

"Who are you calling?"

"Emmett, we need to pull into the most deserted rest stop Carlisle can find. We have to at least call the authorities about the cave."

Jasper nodded, turning his attention back to the road.

XXX

a/n: sorry this chapter is so short, but you'll see the method to my madness. Also the next chapter catches back with the book, it should be up by next weekend. Till then! Thank you to all my readers


	15. Chapter 15

XXX

Alice had this huge grin on her face when we got home and at first I couldn't figure out why. I'm usually pretty good at figuring my sister out, but it took me a minute. As I hung up my coat and slipped my sneakers off into the mudroom, Alice followed me, grinning wide.

"Yes Alice?" I finally said turning to face her, she clasped her hands together and giggled, before patting me on the head and skipping away.

That in itself made me kind of nervous. Jasper, Carlisle and Emmett looked at me and shrugged, as we parted ways.

I could hear Esme in her office and that's where Carlisle was heading, Rose was definitely upstairs in her and Emmett's room, and Edward was nowhere to be found. I was pretty sure that he went to Bella's. I hoped he was over there making amends for being so paranoid. If I know Bella and Edward like I do, Bella was probably not happy about Edward's over-protectiveness, I could only imagine how Bella reacted to that.

Esme came out of her office, she came over and hugged me tight, kissing the top of my head.

"Christian honey, I feel like I haven't seen you in weeks," she cooed

"Sorry mum," I replied hugging her back

"Did you have a good time?"

I looked at my mother's face carefully; clearly Carlisle hadn't told her what had occurred during our hunting trip. I wondered for a second how long he thought he could keep that from Esme, she's good at figuring things out and Carlisle at least around her is the world's worst liar.

"Brilliant," I replied sighing, great now I was lying to her as well. But Esme seemed more preoccupied with something else besides us lying to her.

"Chris, are you planning on going hunting again next weekend. Edward apparently didn't really get a chance too and is planning on going next weekend, Jasper, Emmett, and Carlisle are going as well."

This was the first I heard of this, Emmett and Carlisle must have made the plans on the way home. Edward must not have gotten as many mountain lions as he wanted, because there was no way he would need to hunt as early as next weekend.

"Probably," I replied, I'd probably be getting close to due by then, but if Edward was going to be his usual self I might skip the whole ordeal and let Emmett, Jasper, and Carlisle deal with him. Besides, I could read Esme's tone, she wasn't asking if I needed to hunt again. "Why?"

Esme reached over and lifted the house phone off the charger. She smiled knowingly and played the messages.

"You have one new message, play new messages, to listen to skipped messages press two," our answer machine's robotic voice said. Esme pressed two and put the phone on speaker. "First skipped message sent yesterday at 11:24 AM."

I raised an eyebrow as Esme held the phone to me, it still on speaker phone, Marie's nervous voice poured out of the phone.

"Hi Chris…it's Marie, I know you're camping with your brothers and dad this weekend, I just wanted to call and say hi…um…I'll talk to you later, either at school or if you want…call me back when you get home. Hope you're having fun…bye."

"End of message."

Esme hit the end button and her smile widened.

"Sounds like Marie missed you," she said and I shrugged a little embarrassed "Chris, why don't you invite her over for dinner?"

"Seriously?" I asked

"Serious," Esme replied smiling "I think it would be nice to have her over for once, her family has had you over a number of times, I'd really like to return gesture."

I nodded, Esme was right of course and besides, Bella was over here a lot of times, this wouldn't be any different. If anything it be easy, unlike Bella, Marie didn't know she was best friends (I'm still pretty sure we had moved to a dating stance) and possibly dating a vampire.

"When should I invite her for?"

"Why not this weekend, Bella is going to be here for the weekend, a sleepover with Alice." Esme replied and I snorted back my laughter, imaging my sister and Bella having a slumber party.

I was subjected to tons of over the top, obnoxious girly movies involving sleepovers thanks to my sisters in the mid 80s into the mid 90s and I knew Bella was in for one hell of a weekend and I meant that quite literally.

"Er, okay,"

"Go call Marie, tell her we'd love to have her over on Thursday for dinner, be sure to ask her what she likes to eat, you and I will go to the grocery store and get a few things okay?"

I nodded, I took the phone and headed up to my room for some privacy, not that that's really possible in this house. I passed Alice on my way up and she was still grinning like a jack-o-lantern, apparently she knew the whole story, she'd probably seen it happening.

"Oh this is going to be so much fun," she exclaimed, "I'm pretty sure Rose will participate,"

"Yeah right," I replied with a grin "best of luck with that,"

"at least she'll be on her best behavior."

I was really trying not to laugh at this point, Rose thought Marie and me was cute, a childish first crush kind of deal, she still took issue with Bella. Not about Bella knowing our secret, since the incident in Italy Rose had calmed down over that and even respected Bella, after all, Bella had saved Edward's life.

What Rose didn't agree with was Bella's careless disregard for her human life and the fact that she was willing to throw it all way at the drop of a hat, she always acted as if her human life was so awful and mundane that her leaving it behind wouldn't make a difference.

There wasn't one member of our family however who agreed with her on that aspect, Rose and I especially. But it would be interesting to see Alice trying to drag both Rose and Bella around the house for painting their nails, doing hair, things like that (those movies have literally scarred me for life…)

Up in my room, Chap was throwing a fit waiting for me. I grinned, unclasped his cage door, and let him climb out and up my arm. He was clearly ecstatic to see me and I was on the same level, since losing Charlie a few months ago I've really made sure to focus on Chap's emotions. Charlie was after all Chaps' brother, I suffered a loss, but mine was of a best friend, Chap lost his brother, his constant companion from birth.

We've been hanging onto each other when we start missing Char. The nice thing is that we both have our distractions and Chap's found another companion if I'm not around, he's always had Alice that's his buddy, but now he also has Jasper and Emmett who he wouldn't have gone ne

ar in the past, now he searches them out and hangs out with my brothers on a regular basis.

Emmett has ever referred to Chap as his X-Box partner, there's times he won't play HALO without Chap sitting on his shoulder, something about my rat being a good luck charm.

As I dialed Marie's number Chap jumped off my shoulder to my desk, he sat there and watched me, curious.

Mrs. Burke picked up on the third ring,

"Hello?"

"Hi Mrs. Burke, it's Chris, is Marie home?"

"Oh hi Chris, hold on sweetie she was just helping me move some furniture, here she is." A sentence like that sounded ordinary enough, but felt a twinge in my stomach and I couldn't figure out why, sometimes my profile clues me into things and I have no idea what they mean.

"Hi Chris!" Marie's voice filled the phone, she certainly sounded out of breath and I wondered for a second how much furniture moving they'd been doing.

"Hi,"

"Did you have fun camping? Did your brothers come home from college for the summer? Where did you guys go camping?" Marie may have been out of breath, but that didn't stop her from rattling off questions at warp speed, I had to grin she sounded like a kid on a sugar rush, and believe me, I definitely know what that sounds like.

I chuckled

"Let's see, yes I had fun, yes my brothers are home from college for the summer, we went to Crater Lake National Park." I answered "we go every spring, just the five of us guys."

I could practically see Marie smiling, as if she was picturing the camp-out, I'm pretty sure about this because there was a long pause on Marie's end.

"I wish I could go camping, you know I've never been?" she admitted and I have to admit I was kind of surprised. Marie loves the outdoors and nature, to me she'd be the last person I would have pegged to have never gone camping.

"Really?" I asked, unable to keep the surprise out of my voice, she giggled a little

"Really, my dad's allergic to a lot of environmental stuff, tree pollen, mold, moss, a whole bunch of stuff; he's got a severe allergy to poison ivy and oak." Marie giggled again "he's not a lot of fun to be around right about now. I think that's why he doesn't coach baseball. But we've never had to chance to go camping because of his allergies, it just never came up."

"I'm sorry Marie," I replied, I mean I've never been camping in the sense she was thinking of either, toasting marshmallows around a roaring fire, sleeping in a tent, etc.

Sure when we go hunting, our version of camping we have a site that is made up to look the part, we'll get a nice fire going and tell ghost stories around it sometimes, but marshmallows aren't apart of the equation and sleeping in the tents we'd have set up, of course that doesn't happen.

Still, I guess it is better than nothing; it's as close to camping as a vampire can get and it's certainly better then never going.

"It's okay, it's not like I've never been on vacation, I've been to Disneyland and World plenty of times, and of course the San Diego zoo."

"Well there you go, you've never been camping and I've never been to Disney,"

"You've never been to Disney?" Marie asked in surprise, I could hear it in her voice, because she's Marie and she's quiet and doesn't like to pry she didn't ask her full question, which was 'your family is loaded how have you never been to Disney?' Marie is to polite to ask that, but I know she was certainly thinking it, you don't need to be a mind reader to guess that.

"No," I quickly made up a story to go along with that "we were supposed to go a few years ago, when I was nine, but my older brother Edward broke his leg a week before we were supposed to go so my parents had to cancel the trip, some reason it never got rescheduled."

I had no problem blaming Edward for us missing our fictional vacation, it's childish, but made me feel better about his stupidity and over protectiveness.

"I think missing Disney is so much worse then never going camping, it's so much fun I'm sorry you've never been, I hope you get to go at some point Chris."

"I'm sure I will, might be time to start pestering the parents." I fibbed before changing the subject "so Marie, my mum was wondering and I was too…um, would you like to come over my house for dinner."

"Really?" Marie asked "sounds great, let me just ask my mom, hold on a second," there was a soft thud as Marie set the phone down on what sounded like a countertop. I could hear her asking Mrs. Burke in the background.

While I waited I flipped on my old school super Nintendo with Super Mario Brothers in the slot and began playing it. I had just started a new level when a creak of the floorboards outside my room, I glanced up to see Esme standing in my doorway looking at me expectantly

"She's asking her mum" I replied nodding at the phone

"don't forget to ask her what she likes to eat." Esme whispered and I nodded, definitely wouldn't forget that.

I heard the phone get picked up and Marie's voice came back on the receiver

"Chris, she said of course!" she exclaimed and I couldn't help but grin at her excitement

"Great! My mum and I will pick you up at" I glanced over at Esme

"6:00" she whispered

"Six okay?"

"My mom says she can come get me afterwards that way your mom doesn't have to make two trips." Marie said, I could hear Mrs. Burke in the background asking questions and giving offers.

"Tell her don't worry about it, my mum doesn't mind." Esme walked into my room and held out her hand for the phone "uh, Marie I think my mum wants to talk to yours,"

"Okay,"

There was muffling as Marie handed the phone to her mother and I passed ours to Esme.

"Hi Anna how are you?" Esme asked

Thanks to my superior hearing I could hear the other end of the conversation perfectly well, even as Esme headed out of my room, I put my game on pause and followed my mother out of my room.

"Well Esme very well, and you?"

"Busy, busy, our nephew and niece and oldest son are all home for the summer from college so it's been more chaotic with them moving their things back in, but nice having the whole family home."

"It must be so nice to have everyone home,"

"It is," Esme paused "I like having a full house, it will be even tougher next year with the older five in college, then it will be very quiet."

"I can't imagine, I'm not looking forward to Marie going off to college, I'm not ready for an empty nest, I don't think I ever will be." Mrs. Burke replied "but Esme it is so nice of you to invite Marie over for dinner,"

"Oh of course, I'm sorry it's taken this long to plan something and return the favor, you have had Chris over so many times." Esme replied waving her hand, I snorted back a laugh at the hand gesture and she gave me a look that stopped my laugh dead in its tracks, but it didn't put a damper on my grin. "now, what does Marie like to eat?"

"Oh, she's really not picky, the only thing she won't eat is fish, she's not a big seafood eater to begin with, but that is it, she's not a picky eater."

Esme smiled a little

"Well that's good, Chris is so picky he hates trying new things, I can never get him to move out of his comfort zone."

"funny, real funny mum," I whispered grinning and Esme winked at me.

"Oh, Esme before I forget I was wondering if you had any plans the day of the freshmen dance."

"None that I can think of at the moment, why?"

"I'm on the parents committee and we could really use all the help we can get setting up and getting supplies for the dance, we'd love it if you could help out." Mrs. Burke asked casually and Esme looked over at me.

A normal guy my age would be appalled at the thought of his mother being at his first school dance, especially his first high school dance, but for one thing I'm not a normal fourteen pretending to be fifteen year old and secondly I know how much my mother has always wanted to be involved in normal parent stuff. She loves going to parent teacher conferences and being involved in our school life as possible.

Esme likes for our lives to be as human normal as possible, and that includes playing the part of a normal (if not large) family. I started off here as a sixth grader so she was able to be more involved in a non-weird sense than if I had started in high school, she'd never be involved with half the stuff if my brothers were involved, in all reality I'm the baby of the family as my siblings constantly remind me and with that "honor" comes a very protective set of parents and a mum who loves to be able to act the part of a normal parent and knows her youngest will let her do so.

My sixth grade class had a field trip before school let out and she happily volunteered to be a parent chaperone. She loves it and I would never deny my mother that opportunity. Besides, our group on that field trip had the best time out of everyone, everyone in our group was bragging about how cool Chris Cullen's mother was.

But with the offer from Mrs. Burke, Esme actually looked back at me as if she was asking for my permission; I grinned and nodded, giving her a look to remind her that she didn't have to ask ME for permission for anything like that, I know how happy it will make her.

"That would be lovely Anna, I'd be happy to help out."

"Wonderful Esme, we're meeting tomorrow evening at the school, in the library would you be able to make it?"

"Of course, what time?"

"Seven, we'll also have some of the students who are on the Dance committee there as well, it won't be very long an hour or so."

"I will be there and Chris and I will pick Marie up at six on Thursday for dinner,"

"Are you sure you wouldn't like me to come and pick her up afterwards, it's really no trouble."

"It's no problem, we'd be happy to bring her home. The girls are having a slumber party over here with Bella Swan, and I'm sure by that point Chris will be anxious to get out of the house for a little while,"

"Oh hell yeah," I mumbled the images of that particular horror flashing in my mind again. Esme gave me another look, reprimanding my language with her eyes, it's kind of scary how she does that.

I could hear Mrs. Burke chuckling on her end of the phone and I rolled my eyes, was I the only one who didn't find my sister's sleepover funny and was in fact dreading it? I thought that over for a second, probably one other person in the world…Bella, and I had to grin at that.

Bella would most certainly be more horrified and dreading it more then I, at least I could escape it for a few hours with Marie here, and spend the rest of the night locked in the safety of my room, Bell had no choice in the matter but to endure it.

"Well Esme it was wonderful to chat with you, we really should get together for coffee sometime."

"Of course, we'll have to make plans for that, I will see you tomorrow at the school and thank you again for asking me to be a part of this, it means a lot to me."

"Anytime, I just wish I had asked you sooner, things have just been so hectic with the end of the year coming up, I've got students staying in the library for hours after school just cramming away for finals, I will be in need of a long vacation after finals are over, preferably with a masseuse." Mrs. Burke added and Esme joined her laughter

"I can only imagine, best of luck Anna, have a nice night."

"You as well Esme, good night."

The two mothers hung up the phones and Esme smiled at me

"So, school dance committee huh?" I asked my mother grinning

"You don't mind do you Chris?"

"Of course I don't" I replied, she walked over and kissed the top of my head, hugging me tight, before heading downstairs to return the phone to it's charger. She looked so happy I couldn't help but chuckle.

I was just about to go back to my game when the floorboard creaked again, I turned and saw Jasper standing in my doorway. After Esme's in high spirits body language, Jasper's serious stance brought me down a few notches.

"Chris, I have to ask you something,"

"Is this going to be a something I'm not going to like?" I paused and glanced out the door past Jasper "or something that Carlisle and Esme aren't going to like?"

"A little of both I suppose," he replied

"Er, okay, what is it then?"

"Carlisle has an overnight shift tomorrow," Jasper said and I nodded we all knew that

"Right, so?"

"Would you be willing to go back to Seattle with me?" That question caught me off guard, I knew Jasper wanted to go to Seattle to check it out, especially after what I had told him, Edward, and Emmett about the shadow and being positive it was one of our kind, but I didn't think he'd want to go this soon. As if he was reading my mind as well as Edward can or my body language like I can Jasper put a hand up trying to reassure me, my emotions must have been sending him warning bells like anything. "We're just going to investigate, ask around see what's happening without getting directly involved. Between the two of us we should be able to find something."

"Well you're right about one thing, Carlisle is definitely not going to be a fan of this, neither is Esme, especially not Esme."

"All we're going to do is play detective; I'm going to give you the chance you didn't get the other night,"

"Which is?"

"Profile the area, do what you're best at Chris, see what's not there and what is. That's why it's just you and I going, too many of us and if it is one of us it will be seen as a threat, just two of us not so much. We need to know what's going on Chris; we all know something is going on. If we get there and find nothing then that's fine." Jasper explained and I sighed "what are you thinking Chris?"

"Esme and Carlisle are going to kill us when they find out, but…I'm game Jasper."

"It's settled then, I'll pick you up from school tomorrow afternoon and we'll go from there." Jasper patted my shoulder and headed out of my room, presumably to his and Alice's room. I looked over at Chap who was still sitting on my desk, he had a sunflower seed in his paws and he was contently nibbling on it. He looked up at me and tilted his head as if he was asking me what was wrong,

"Man do I got a bad feeling about this whole thing Chap, but Jaz is right, we gotta try and investigate." Chap gave a loud squeak and ran up my arm "come on, let's go find Emmett, I'm in the mood for a game a little more strategic then Super Mario brothers."


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: I apologize if you folks receive multiple alerts that this chapter was uploaded. For some reason it was not uploading properly, Trouble97018 alerted me to the fact that it is not there even though it says it is. Hopefully this time works. Again I apologize for the stupidity that my computer is expressing today.

XXXX

Jasper pulled the car to a stop not far from where I had seen the shadow, not surprisingly the streets were empty of life. I mean it was nearly two in the morning, and in typical Seattle weather fashion, it was down pouring.

I pulled my rain slicker on and slid out of the Audi and Jasper did the same, nothing seemed out of the ordinary and the feeling that I'd had earlier was gone, replaced with the normal feeling of a populated city.

"Anything?" Jasper asked joining me on the sidewalk "Chris?"

"I don't know." I admitted, I moved closer to the building and started to retrace the path the group of us had taken earlier "this is the spot I saw 'em, but it doesn't feel the same." I came to a dead stop at the entrance to the alley, where the shadow had darted, I glanced up at Jasper and nodded at it "here, he disappeared into here."

Now that I was closer I was able to really investigate, I could smell the presence of one of our kind a vampire, one who had recently fed was definitely in this alley, I could smell him and the blood too.

"You smell that right?" Jasper asked and I nodded

"Impossible to miss, it was a vampire I saw." I paused "I can't tell if he was following us…I mean he had to know that the group he was following wasn't all human. Did he follow us on purpose or did he just stumble on a pack of humans then realized that two of those were vampires too?"

Jasper shrugged

"It's possible," he replied.

I moved towards a fence at the end of the alley, the scent got stronger the closer I got to the fence, in fact the fence was dripping with the same smell and it was kind of nauseating. Knowing how a bloodhound feels (seriously not the first time that thought has crossed my mind) I gave the fence a deep sniff then pulled back quickly.

Whatever was on the other side of this thick chain link fence might give us a clue, in fact THE clue we needed.

I looked at my brother, he could feel my curiosity rising and I knew he wouldn't stop me, he would be cautious, but Jasper and I are a lot alike on that front, we both need to know the whole story when something is strange.

"Just be careful," he instructed

"Always," I replied as I scaled the fence, careful not to make a sound, not an easy task on a chain link fence. I hopped down, landing in a puddle. Luckily the rain was accompanied by loud claps of thunder, so I technically didn't make a sound.

The smell was definitely stronger on this side, strong to the point where I realized we were dealing with more than one here. The security portion of my profiling ability began screaming at me, too many vampires, outnumbered, get out of there, all this bombarding my mind. The scary thing was it was right, there was at least five distinct scents here, all belonging to what could be a good size coven.

"Chris?" Jasper called, he must have felt my panic

"Yeah?"

"What's going on?"

"You wouldn't believe me, come over here and smell for yourself."

Jasper wasted no time and jumped the fence, protective brother mode taking hold. As soon as Jasper joined me, he realized what I'd meant.

"This is not good," he mumbled, more to himself then to me, but I concurred.

"Which part, the coven of vampires this close to us or the coven of vampires this close to us that feed on humans?"

"Both I'm afraid,"

"So, Seattle doesn't have a serial killer human, just a group of serial killer vampires."

"Perhaps," Jasper replied and I looked at him quickly

"What do you mean perhaps?" I asked "it adds up doesn't it?"

"But it shouldn't." Jasper explained "no coven should be this sloppy, nor this exuberant. There are too many bodies and missings to be explained."

"Jaz, what are you suggesting?"

"This coven, it has no fear, not of us, certainly not of exposure, which means they do not fear the Volturi."

I winched at the mention of the Volturi and even gave a little shiver, even though the cold rain had no affect on me, but the mere thought of our royal family certainly did. I was surprised they hadn't gotten involved yet, thankful of course, but surprised. This kind of news had to be reaching Italy, considering how "involved" they are it certainly would've have irked Aro's interest and Caius' panic.

"You think they just don't care?"

"I don't know Chris, this whole thing it's just odd and perplexing."

I sighed, perplexed Jasper is never a good thing, but I'm a profiler I know my brother better then most because of that ability. He wasn't telling me everything he was thinking; I don't know why my family tries to hide stuff from me, it's pretty pointless.

Off to the side a trash can fell over catching my attention. Though it might have been just the wind, I wasn't leaving anything to chance. I started to walk over there to investigate when Jasper yanked me back.

"What?" I started to say then I stopped, sniffing the air "oh bloody hell no…" I groaned as the scent which we had been following to begin with filled the area, along with two other scents. Another can fell over, this time it splashed in a puddle and I know it wasn't the wind and I was pretty sure it wasn't a cat.

"Chris, how many?" Jasper whispered

"three total," what do you feel?"

"Calm, nothing alarming." He admitted and I knew that tone, Jasper may not have sensed anything alarming, but that was enough TO alarm him.

"Do we fight?" I asked.

Two against three sound like bad odds I know, but Jasper and I are dangerous fighters, even just the two of us.

Not long after him and Alice joined the family, Alice, Jasper, Rose, and I went hunting, while the others stayed home. We were about a day, maybe two (human speed) away from our house on the outskirts of Bangor Maine. We had just finished our hunting when two nomads showed up, they were looking to claim a territory that had a lot of tourist traffic and they meant to take ours.

They couldn't believe the size of our coven (at least what they saw of it), but that didn't stop them from getting hostile quick.

One of them went after who he dubbed (mistakenly) our weakest link, IE Alice; big mistake all around. The second his attention went onto Alice, his death warrant was signed. Jasper had him torn to shreds before he even knew he was dead.

His partner who had been eyeing me at the time (apparently I was the second weakest looking link) trying to decide between me and Rosalie on who to attack, saw his buddy getting ripped to pieces and attacked Jasper. He never got the chance because I tackled him to the ground and did something I never expected to do, I followed Jasper's lead and decimated the nomad.

My instinct to protect my family had taken over and before I knew it, it was a done deed. Rosalie and Alice had clearly wanted to help, but there wasn't anything to help with. In less then two minutes, both nomads were dead, torn to pieces.

I was in shock when it was all over, I couldn't believe that I had done that even though the evidence was right in front of me. I was literally shaking and felt my knees go weak as I crumbled to the ground. Taking an animal life had always been tough on me, but I had never taken a human life, nor had I at that point killed one of our kind before. I'd never killed like that before and I couldn't figure out what had come over me.

I mean I knew I had done it out of instinct and had done it to protect my family, but my instinct had never hit that point before…then again, it had never been faced with that kind of hostility before.

It took Rosalie and Alice an hour to calm me down, while Jasper destroyed our opponents in a small bonfire. All the play fighting I had done with my brothers had trained me to fight in that kind of situation, but it's one thing to play fight with one's siblings, it's an entirely different matter when you take a life.

But I have never hesitated on the few times we have faced that kind of danger again, I don't forget, but I don't regret those times either.

So looking at Jasper now, I knew we could defend ourselves if it came to it, but I was following his lead on this. He shook his head

"No, we don't want to start a war. We came here for information, I believe we got enough for the moment. Let's go." he pulled my jacket and we quickly retreated back over the fence.

As we headed to the car I stopped short, Jasper nearly plowed into me, but I was to focused to really notice.

Something was about to happen, something I couldn't see, something I wouldn't be able to stop, but I could feel it coming, I just didn't know what IT was.

"Ja…" I started to say when a scream shot through the night. The booming thunder masked it, but those with super human hearing heard it perfectly. A woman's scream, followed by dead silence…seconds later the air filled with a new scent…a distinct smell…

Fresh Blood.

I felt Jasper stiffen behind me, he put a hand on my shoulder as if I was keeping him grounded there.

"Chris…" he started to say, I could hear the burn in his voice, the pain. The fact that he as still behind me shows how resilient Jasper has gotten over the years, but I know we can't push it.

"Jasper, I gotta check it out," I felt his grip tighten for a moment, to the point where I actually felt it and I couldn't help but wince, this time the grip had nothing to do with the blood.

"Chris, no." He breathed

"Get in the car, drive around the block, pick me up outside the stadium. I'll be fine."

"If something happens to you, even Alice will never forgive me," Jasper growled, "I can't let you go alone,"

"And you're in no condition to go, it has to be me." I argued "five minutes, that's all I need, I'll check it out and be back, forget meeting me at the stadium, just meet me here, I promise I'll be right back."

At first I thought Jasper would keep arguing, or even force me into the car. But he didn't, he reluctantly let go of my shoulder and I took off running down the street, following the smell of blood and heading in the direction of the scream. I knew he wasn't happy to let me go like that.

The trail wasn't hard to follow and as I got closer to the apparent scene, the stronger the blood scent got, to the point where my throat was starting to burn a little. I was starting to feel a little less confident about the whole thing the closer I got, especially when I saw the body.

It was about thirty yards away from me in a vacant lot on the other side of the street. A woman, laying in the mud. She was provocatively dressed and even from my distance I could see she was dead. I took a deep breath and looked around carefully, using my ability to read the scene.

There was no sign of the attacker and I mean no sign at all, all I could smell was death and the bits of blood that had soaked into the ground.

"bloody hell," I mumbled, I could see how savagely mangled she'd been killed. Her neck was torn to shreds and it would be amazing if she could be identified considering how beat up she looked. To be frank, she looked like a frog after biology dissection.

Suddenly, a new smell entered my nostrils and I gagged at it, immediately I stopped breathing just to prevent the smell from attacking my senses any further. I knew it had soaked into my clothes though; maybe the rain would wash it off. But the smell of alcohol and really bad B.O. was overwhelming.

"Lookies like ol' Jack has come to town." A scratchy (and clearly drunk) voice came from behind me. "best be careful lad, ain't just the ladies in Jackie's sights now, no one's safe, she ain't the first and she won't be the last."

I slowly turned around and was dumbfounded by the sight in front of me. If the situation wasn't so serious I would've burst out laughing. The old guy looked like he had spent a year in Victorian London and hadn't really come back with all his poker chips. He had a top hat for one thing, a walking stick with what at first glanced looked like a silver handle hung off his arm (once I got a better look at it I realized it was just shiny plastic.)

The thing that really threatened to send me into fits of laughter was the pipe. Not only was it something that Sherlock Holmes would use, but it was plastic and instead of blowing smoke, it was blowing bubbles, which clearly didn't survive long with the drizzling rain, but it got the point across.

"I…I beg your pardon?" I asked still not sure how to take this guy, I wasn't sure if I should be worried about him or just amused by him.

"Ol' Mr. Ripper my boy. Fancy him straying here, not far from Whitechapel if I do say so, but still bit of an odd place. Who really knows the mind of Mr. Ripper however, certainly not this old chap."

"Jack the Ripper?" I asked even though I knew exactly who he was talking about. There isn't a soul from Great Britain who doesn't know the story behind Jack the Ripper, people outside of the UK may know the basics and think they know everything, but it's not the same. If you grow up in London you know the story.

As a kid I knew not to venture into the East End of London. It was something we all knew, it was still an area with a bad reputation even back in the 1930s and 40s, the skid row of London.

We weren't taught the Ripper killings in school of course, wasn't really appropriate classroom discussion, however the school yard didn't fall under the same rules.

Everyone in my school knew what had happened in Whitechapel in the 1880s. It was the kind of place you never wanted to go yourself, especially alone, but it was the kind of place you'd dare your mates to venture into, a dangerous and skivvy place and call them chicken if they refused, but knowing you wouldn't go either.

"Of course Jack the Ripper lad, he's out stalking his prey again, only he's not so particular nowadays, any ol' victim will do." The old man cackled and "keep your wits about you, don't want to join his new list."

I backed away from the old man, he was starting to freak me out and that takes a lot. But the correlation between Jack the Ripper and what was happening here in Seattle was pretty damn close, a little too close for my liking.

The old man burst out laughing and I did something I'm kind of ashamed to admit it, but it reached the point where I was so freaked out I bolted.

I could hear the old man's laughter half way down the block as I ran as fast as I could, not even caring if someone saw me running faster than a human should be able to run.

I could see the surprise on Jasper's face the second I neared the car he could feel my terrified emotions and even though I was embarrassed by that, it didn't slow me down. I opened the door to the Audi as quickly and carefully as I could and fell into the passenger seat.

"Chris, what the hell happened?"

My whole body was shaking as I looked at my brother carefully trying to figure out how to tell him what I'd seen.

"Dr…drive home…I'll tell you just let's get outta here."

Jasper wasn't about to argue with that as he peeled out of the parking spot heading for the main highway to take us home.

Once we were out of the city, with it fading in the rearview mirror, Jasper glanced over at me expectantly

"Well?"

Quickly and carefully I told him everything that had happened, the creepy old guy, the body in the empty lot, the old guy's repeated reference to Jack the Ripper, and the serious overkill on the woman's corpse.

Jasper didn't say a word, he let me tell the story, nodding every once in a while and waving his hand to encourage me to continue. The original image of the old guy still mad me chuckle a little, but then his voice and his obsession with London's most famous serial killer made me completely forget how hilarious the guy looked.

"I can't believe I ran…I was just so freaked out Jaz," I admitted

"I don't blame you, I think most would be, had they been in that situation."

"Well, I suppose we got what we wanted tonight; we wanted to know if one of our kind was hunting Seattle, that certainly has been answered."

"I wish it was that simple Chris, it's not though, there's more to it, I know you can feel it, you profiled that."

I sighed, he was right of course I did profile that, but I wasn't going to admit it.

"Yeah I guess," I paused and looked at my brother "do we tell the others?"

"I'll talk to Carlisle, we do not tell Esme, especially not about tonight, it'll only worry her."

"Agreed," I replied "I wouldn't tell Em either, he'll want to come here and pick a fight." Jasper nodded "and Edward would be bad to tell too, he'll panic and convince Chief Swan to send Bella to Florida somehow.

"And the girls?" he really meant Rosalie, keeping something like this from Alice wasn't going to be easy, in fact I was surprised she hadn't figured out our plan before we even left the house.

"No, it'll worry them too. I mean I hate to put this on Carlisle, but he deserves to know. Just in case this turns ugly later on. I know this isnt going to end here, something bigger will come out of it I just don't know when or even how."

Jasper nodded, he reached over and patted my shoulder

"It'll work out, we'll handle whatever comes our way. We just need to keep doing what we've been doing, paying attention and listening. We both know the signs and what to be looking for."

"I hate this waiting thing…I'm not ready to go to war over this, but I have a sinking feeling that's what is going to come out of it."

I looked out the window staring as the forest rushed past us, the rain splattered down, the events in Seattle had shaken me, it takes a lot to do that, but tonight certainly did it and I felt an uneasy queasiness about the next few weeks and what was going to happen from Seattle.


	17. Chapter 17

Not surprisingly, Carlisle was not happy with Jasper and I when we went to speak to him. He'd only been home from his overnight for an hour or so when we knocked on his door.

He was distressed about what we had learned, but he was overlooking that fact at the moment to give us his 'I'm very disappointed in you both' look. It's something neither of us see very often, but when we do see, it, we know he means business, it also comes with a pretty lengthy lecture, that felt like it went on for hours.

Jasper tried to take full responsibility for the whole thing, claiming that he convinced me to go after promising me that Carlisle knew we were going. Of course, I wasn't about to let Jasper take the blame, I was just as guilty.

Carlisle did agree however that we would keep our discovery amongst the three of us, at least for the time being. We knew how the others would react and had all come to the same decision wait.

Carlisle did insist on me going over step by step what I had seen in Seattle, he was desperate to know exactly what we were up against, that way he knew how to precede. Needless to say I was pretty embarrassed at my reaction to the whole thing, I hated the fact that I freaked out and literally ran away.

I was trying to hide my feelings on the matter, but Jasper of course felt my embarrassment and nodded at Carlisle who understood immediately. He reassured me that I did nothing worth being embarrassed over and that he would rather me have gotten out of that situation then stick around and try to solve it on my own, putting my own safety at risk.

Considering, I thought Jasper and I got off pretty damn easy. I know Carlisle was disappointed in us though and that was enough punishment for both Jasper and I. We had risked not only our own lives, but the family as well, not to mention our human neighbors; we might have started a war by going to Seattle after Carlisle asked us not to.

Jasper saw it all as a military necessity; we had to know what we were faced with in Seattle. It may have gone against what Carlisle asked, but in that sense Jasper is less bound to Carlisle, the two of them are after all the oldest in the family and in all reality, Jasper has experienced much more in the sense of war then Carlisle, both as a human and as a vampire. He knows how to read an enemy and search out trouble better then anyone in our family, even me on some points. But while I felt guilty about disobeying Carlisle, Jasper does not feel as guilty, he was doing what he felt was right.

After Jasper headed upstairs to go see Alice, I stayed behind in Carlisle's office, I still felt really guilty about the whole thing, even though I agreed with Jasper, it was necessary and of us four Cullen boys, Jasper and I were the most level headed and reasonable for the fact finding mission, it made more sense for us to go.

"Christian, I'm not mad," Carlisle, said when he saw me hovering "I wish you and Jasper hadn't gone without telling anyone, but it's done with now." He paused and sighed "and we learned quite a bit from it, information we would not have if it hadn't been for you both."

I moved closer to his desk and sat down

"I keep seeing that woman in my mind dad, every time I close my eyes, she's right there." I shuddered "even before that crazy guy showed up, I kept thinking, this has got to be how the first person who found Mary Kelly's body, must have felt, I think his name was John McCarthy, he owned the boarding house she lived in and was hunting for the rent when he found her…anyways I really know how he felt finding her like that."

Carlisle raised an eyebrow

"Mary Kelly, one of the Ripper victims?" he asked and I nodded

"she was ripped to shreds dad, so was this lady, the only difference I could see was that there was blood soaked into the sheets with Kelly, I smelled very little blood on the ground in that lot, but there was definitely the smell of blood in the air." I paused "then that guy shows up talking about Jack the Ripper and…I just got spooked. All the stories that my mates and I would tell each other to freak us out, all about Jack the Ripper and White Chapel…it came rushing back and that was why I ran."

"Chris, Chris, easy," Carlisle said gently, trying to calm me down "it's perfectly understandable. You did what any normal person would do in that situation." I must have had a look on my face because Carlisle's face went from reassuring to curious "Christian?"

"Where were you during the Ripper years?" I asked slowly,

Carlisle was a little stunned by that question, but he thought it over

"here in the US, I'd left Italy by then, I believe I was in northern Michigan." Carlisle replied "why?" he paused "do you think I am secretly Jack the Ripper?" he was trying to make me laugh, trying to do what Emmett would always do.

I wanted to grin and laugh, the thought of my father being Jack the Ripper was beyond comical, but I had other reasons for asking about his whereabouts in the 1880s, and unfortunately my father's well placed attempt at cheering me up wasn't going to work.

"No of course not,"

Carlisle nodded, seeing the seriousness in my eyes

"Then why the questions Christian?"

"How much did the papers report on the crimes here?" I asked "I mean I've read reproductions of the articles, and I know the case pretty well, but."

"Very little was reported over here if my memory serves me correctly. Despite what you learned about the case as a child, I'm sure it wouldn't have been well reported even back then in your area of London. Remember Chris, White Chapel and that entire district of London was-"

"A different world," I finished

"Exactly, even when I was a boy it wasn't the place to visit. That area for some reason always seemed to attract the worst possible situations. The situation was different, much different than during the Ripper time, or even your childhood, but I was not allowed to venture to that area and I suspect you weren't either." Carlisle paused "why the questions about Jack the Ripper?"

I took a deep breath and reached forward to his desk, Carlisle keeps little knickknacks on his desk and for someone like me with the full attention span of a two year old, not playing with them is impossible. This is especially true when I'm trying to carry on a conversation, but at the same time avoiding that conversation like the plague.

One of my favorite toys if you will on his desk is a mini swing set like thing with about six little metal balls hanging, I'm sure you've seen them, you take one ball pull it back, let it go and it hits the next ball in sequence and sets all of them off. Anyways I let one of the balls go and watched the other's smacking into each other, getting distracted for a moment.

Until Carlisle cleared his throat, pulling me back. He's used to me doing this and usually just lets me go through the motions for a moment or two.

I looked at my father over the little toy as he gave me an expectant look.

"Sorry," I said "the woman tonight reminded me of everything I have ever read or heard about regarding Jack the Ripper and…the crazy guy tonight he said that old Jack had come to town. It freaked me out before, but now that I'm thinking about it, what if that's the answer to everything, what if he wasn't completely crazy?"

"Chris, son, I'm sorry but you've lost me."

"Jasper and I thought that the killings in Seattle were too unorganized, too sloppy. It was like those responsible didn't care if the authorities got involved or worse, the Volturi." I paused "would it be possible…even in the slightest that Jack the Ripper was one of us? A real psychotic one of us, but a vampire nonetheless?"

Carlisle thought this over, I have to admit, this is pretty out there, even with my imagination, but to me the facts added up and the murders in Seattle resembled no other serial killer case more closely then Jack the Ripper.

"Chris, it is a good theory, but I don't think these killings in Seattle are related to Jack the Ripper, nor do I believe he was a vampire."

"How can you be sure? I mean it's possible, the brutality, the way he left the bodies, I mean it would be possible for one of our kind to massacre someone like that and leave some blood behind, it's odd, but not impossible."

"I didn't think of it until just now, but Aro and the others, they had the same theory back then." Carlisle reached into his desk and pulled out a folder, I may be a packrat, but Carlisle is the king of packrats, he saves EVERYTHING. He gently searched through the folder until he found what he was looking for, I instantly recognized Aro's handwriting and winced a little as Carlisle handed the letter to me. "Aro sent this after the fourth woman was found. I was not following the case, I did however have several human friends in that area of London who had written to me alerting me that they would be leaving England for the states, they had mentioned several of the victims and how the papers were reporting on them. They were understandably nervous about the potential killer in the area and were hoping to leave soon. It was after that I received this letter from Aro. I'm not entirely sure why, but he asked me for my advice on the matter. He had already sent two members of the guard to England to investigate. I do not believe he expected a reply, I believe this was more a warning to avoid England for a while, until the Volturi could sort the matter out."

I read the letter over carefully; in it Aro explains to Carlisle the murders and how he suspected it was one of our kind who had clearly lost control.

"I'm assuming the investigation didn't go anywhere?"

"No, it didn't. They never found any proof that Jack the Ripper was a vampire. When the killings eventually stopped, Aro felt it was proof that the murderer was a human after-all."

I felt my shoulders drop as I handed the letter back to Carlisle

"Oh," I replied, unable to keep the disappointment out of my voice "I'd hoped…that we could go with the lesser of two evils here. The killings in Seattle, the disappearances, I have no doubt that it's vampire related." I sighed

"but?" Carlisle asked

"If it was the same killer from 1880s London, which meant it was one individual…even though there was definitely at least three tonight it was a more manageable theory, I could easily see a scenario that we could counter pretty quickly and safely. I mean I'd hate to think that Jack the Ripper himself was running around Seattle orchestrating this, but even that wouldn't be out of our league. Three, possible four vs. all of us, our odds are pretty good. Now though….what it probably is, I don't like this at all."

Carlisle folded his hands on his desk, he clearly knew what I was about to say and was just as unnerved by it.

"Which is?"

"That we're not dealing with a group of experienced killer here…we're dealing with one experienced killer letting a bunch of inexperienced, bloodthirsty killers loose on the streets of Seattle…newborns, and a lot more than just the three that Jasper and I sensed in that back alley." I finished running my hands through my hair as Carlisle and I exchanged a look, neither of us wanted to be right on this, but Jasper felt it too, the three of us were in the same boat now.

"Chris, there has never been a time where I have doubted your profile, this is one of the times I wish I could doubt it…it is also one of the rare times, I wish it was wrong."

"Believe me…me too." I don't often wish that of my profile, but times like this, it sucks being a profiler.

* * *

Carlisle, Jasper, and I we made the decision to keep everything to ourselves for the time being. We did not to cause a panic in the family and we certainly didn't need Emmett rushing off to Seattle to take on whoever was lurking there, just because it would be fun. Carlisle insisted that everything return to the normal routine.

Esme, who thankfully hadn't figured out Jasper and I's late night trip into the city, picked me up from school on Wednesday afternoon to do something we only do when Bella comes and something I haven't done since Bella's birthday party last September, Esme and I went food shopping.

Esme had been pouring over cookbooks for days trying to come up with a recipe that would be complicated and simple at the same time, something that Marie would like. It also had to be something that a few of us wouldn't mind choking down, it also had to be something that Bella would enjoy since she was kind of grounded to our house while Edward and the other's went "camping."

I still was kind of torn over the fact that I was also stuck in the house…with my sisters, Bella, and my mother, instead of hunting with my brothers and father. But I mean I didn't need to go anyways and I was actually pretty excited about this dinner with Marie, so much so that I'd been graciously ignoring my brothers teasing me and my sisters fawning over my "home date".

I let Esme pick out the food, I just pushed the cart, which was my reason for being there, push the carriage and carry the bags. I was not allowed in the kitchen once Esme and the girls started preparing the meal, and I had flashbacks to my human childhood when my real mother would give those same instructions.

I was kind of fascinated by the supermarket as I followed Esme, careful not to run her over with the wheels of the carriage. The small grocery store in Forks is no match for the larger chain stores, so we ended up driving half an hour away to one of the bigger grocery stores in the area, a superstore I guess.

It had everything, even it's own cafeteria, every few aisles stood employees with free samples of various products. I had to chuckle at the sight as another flashback hit me, my younger cousin Greg, my other half since we were so much alike down to the fact that we could've been twins minus the two year age difference and one other fact, he was a bottomless pit.

Greg could eat at every minute of the day and still be hungry; he would've been in utter paradise with all the free samples being offered at the grocery store, and would probably have found a way to go back for seconds, even thirds, probably using me as a decoy.

Esme turned to look at me as I chuckled at that thought, she raised an eyebrow and smiled at me questioningly

"Chris?" she asked and I grinned

"Just thinking,"

She reached over and kissed the top of my head as she returned to her massive list, gently depositing items into the carriage as we moved through the aisles.

"Does Marie like ice cream?" Esme asked as we entered the frozen food section and I nodded remember the Burke's serving me some. "do you remember what kind?"

I shrugged

"Cold?" I guessed and Esme gave me a look that was a mix between half amused and half annoyed

"Christian." She warned

"I think it was cookie dough, but I'm not sure,"

"Thank you," Esme reached into the freezer and pulled out the container of ice cream. At the end of the aisle she added ice cream toppings to the now pretty packed carriage.

As my mother studied her list one last time, I shifted through the pile of stuff, most of it I didn't recognize. I'm pretty sure I saw a huge thing of hamburger meat, I leaned into the carriage and pushed some of the packages aside and lifted out a huge jar of sauce and an equally large box of pasta.

I was just guess, but I was going with Esme was making spaghetti and meatballs, but why the jumbo size? I held them up to Esme as she turned around; she looked at what I held in my hand, then looked at her list and smiled

"Mum, exactly how much do you think Marie is going to eat? You make all this pasta, we're going to be stuck with leftovers that we'll never get rid of."

"Will you stop Chris? I'm going to send most of the leftovers home with Marie, the rest is for Bella for the weekend, along with some other items in here. It's been a while, but I do remember how to shop for groceries." Esme added a quick smile escaping her, I knew she wasn't really reprimanding me.

"I'm just thinking of the bill," I replied shifting through the items again, "there's gotta be at least two hundred dollars worth of groceries here

"says the boy who just spent twelve hundred on a new computer?"

I grinned and shrugged

"heh, right, message received."

* * *

By the time Thursday afternoon arrived, Esme had her battle plan ready to go. Alice had already put her own plan into action and had kidnapped/picked Bella up from work (I guess either one works, it's really a matter of opinion.) Bella was not a happy camper understandably, but she was willing to put on a good face when she found out what was also occurring in the Cullen house during her imprisonment.

My brothers and father had already left earlier in the day, so by the time five o'clock rolled around, I was feeling slightly better in the nerves department, at least my brothers weren't going to be home to tease me and as Esme drove down our winding driveway to the main road to go collect Marie, I was able to flip through the radio stations and even somewhat relax.

At least, I was relaxed until we neared Marie's street, then the nerves came rushing back, the same nerves I felt going to the movies with her the first time, the same nerves from the graduation party, and yes the same nerves from the first time I went to the Burke's house for dinner. The problem was, these nerves may have felt somewhat the same, but I could tell they were not the same, these nerves were very different from just regular butterflies.

Esme glanced over and saw me staring out the window, I was drumming my fingers on my knees, which Esme takes as a typical sign that I'm getting nervous. She reached over and put her hand on my left hand stopping the drumming.

"Christian, this will be no different than any other time you and Marie have gotten together, why are you so nervous sweetheart?"

I shrugged

"Dunno," I answered honestly "I just can't shake these nerves. Don't know where they came from either, I was feeling fine until just a minute ago." Then I thought things over, remembering when I first felt this particular funny feeling. When I had called Marie to invite her over, I had gotten this peculiar feeling then and I couldn't place why, that phone call felt like it had been months ago instead of days, but the feeling was the same. "You know how my profile sometimes acts like Alice's gift? Like I know something is going to happen, only 'cause it feels funny?"

Esme nodded, my hunches are less reliable then my profile, I've never fully trusted that part of my ability, my family tends to trust it more then I do.

"Does it feel like a hunch Chris?" Esme asked and I nodded

"That's exactly what it feels like, when I talked to Marie the other day something felt funny and I don't know what it is, but I've still got a funny feeling about it."

Esme gave my hand a squeeze

"Sweetie, I'm sure it's nothing serious, it may just be a little bit of butterflies and your hunch is making it difficult for you to focus."

I nodded, she was probably right, but I still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. However, I made sure not to dwell on it as we pulled onto the Burke's driveway. Marie came running out dressed for the occasion, her mum right behind her.

I didn't see Mr. Burke's car and wondered for a second where he was. Marie didn't give me a chance to ponder that either as she flew into my arms hugging me tight. I mean it wasn't like we hadn't seen each other at school earlier in the day, but it still felt kind of nice that she missed me, but that look in her eyes it wasn't really noticeable, but for a profile it was like a big neon sign. Marie had something she needed to tell me, she just wasn't sure how to go about it.

"Hi Chris," Mrs. Burke spoke up from the steps, she gave me a wave and I returned it, grinning, distracted for a moment from what was going on. Mrs. Burke had the same look in her eyes and I was really hoping I was just seeing things.

"Hi Mrs. Burke," I replied she walked over and hugged me, before hugging Esme, then Marie hugged Esme too, there was way to much hugging going on here.

"Thank you again for inviting Marie over for dinner, it's so nice for her to spend some time with Chris," Mrs. Burke said once the hugging was over with.

"It's our pleasure," Esme started "as I said on the phone, I am just sorry it has taken us this long to have her over." Esme looked at Marie and smiled "I do hope you like spaghetti and meatballs."

Marie's eyes lit up and she nodded quickly, Mrs. Burke began laughing and hugged Marie's shoulders

"Esme you just mentioned her favorite food."

"Well that is a good guess if I ever saw one." Esme exclaimed she turned to Mrs. Burke "we'll have Marie home by about nine, is that all right?"

Mrs. Burke nodded and smiled

"Of course Esme, Marie doesn't have a curfew, so whatever time is best for you."

Esme nodded, the three of us piled back into Esme's Audi, I gave Marie the front seat and slid into the back, it seemed like the gentleman thing to do, I think.

Marie and Esme chatted the entire ride back to our house, I don't think they stayed on one topic for longer than a minute. Marie is really shy, I mean REALLY, but Esme is such an easy person to talk to and gives off such a strong motherly vibe, even Marie lost her shyness.

It's always been in the back of my mind about our abilities, well Alice, Jasper, Edward, and mine, sure they are actual abilities, but I've thought about my parents, Emmett and Rose too. I mean they have their own abilities that just aren't as noticeable amongst our kind (or…and yes I'll use one of my least favorite words, useful, I've mentioned it before, but I hate that word.

Now don't get me wrong I'm not saying their abilities aren't useful, I'm saying that someone like Aro wouldn't see Carlisle's compassion, Emmett's humor, Rosalie's control or Esme's mothering sense as useful powers to keep others of our kind in check.) I really hope that makes more sense than it did in my mind.

My point is I know for a fact that when we are changed, we all bring something with us into this life that is amplified, for me it was how I look at my surroundings, but for Esme who was already caring, devoted to family, and being a mother, not only did she bring that with her, but it got amplified into an ability. She has this aura she gives off where you know you can go to her and pour your heart out to her and she will simply cuddle you and try to protect you from the world, and believe me she will succeed, Esme is the very definition of a mother bear protecting her cubs.

I couldn't help my grin at Marie's comfort with my mother, and by the time we got home, the two of them were practically like mother and daughter. Esme was even offering up Rosalie and Alice to do Marie's nails and hair if she wanted. That part of the conversation made me roll my eyes, but what was I going do, I'm severely outnumbered for the moment.

"Hi Marie!" Alice exclaimed from the top of the stairs. She skipped carefully down minding her speed; Esme did give her a little look as she did so, just to make sure Alice knew to be gentle with Marie.

"Hi Alice," Alice was however the last one of my siblings Marie would be intimated by, they get along so great at lunch

Bella was right behind Alice and I had to hold back my laughter at how pissed she looked. She did put on a happier face when she saw Marie, but I know it was just so Marie's night wouldn't be ruined by Bella's obvious foul mood. I gave Bella a half grin, thanking her for that, she rolled eyes, and returned the grin, reminding me that I wasn't Cullen she was mad at.

Rose came out of the garage, her arms crossed until she saw Marie. Apparently all of them had decided that they would not give Marie a bad first experience in the Cullen house. I was impressed, Rose had managed to put away her discontent with Bella, even if it was just for a few hours.

When we headed into the dining room, where Alice had set all the plates up creating a real family dinner (something never seen before in this house), Rose even sat next to Bella, clearly not happy about it, but she didn't say a word throughout dinner.

I was really glad Bella was over for this, with Bella at the table, it wasn't as obvious that Esme, my sisters, and I were eating as little as possible. The spaghetti must have been good, because Marie asked for seconds and shyly piled her plate high with spaghetti and meatballs. Bella did the same, I think so Marie wasn't left out, but Bella was clearly still mad about being held hostage.

"This is delicious Mrs. Cullen" Marie said softly as she finished up

"Thank you Marie, that is very kind of you."

"Yeah mum, that was the best," I added grinning, then winced as Rose kicked my shin, I'll never understand that or why her and Alice flick my ears, do they really think I'm going to stop being a smart ass if they keep up with the corporal punishment? And besides, the comment was genuine, and had nothing to do with the food. I was thanking Esme for preparing the meal for my friend.

Esme apparently knew this because she gave Rosalie a look, before she began to clear the table. Marie reached for her plate and Esme shook her head

"No Marie, guests do not clean the table."

Marie gave me a look, knowing that was exactly what her mother had told me the first time I was over their house for dinner. I grinned and shrugged, the thing was unlike her mum, who gave in pretty easily when I offered to help, Esme wasn't going to take no for an answer. What made it worse though was she insisted that I give Marie a tour of the house and not help clean up, saying I was off the hook for one night. This led to my own look at Esme, but didn't last very long because she returned it and I didn't want to argue with that look.

"So, you've seen the dining room, this is the family room," I said giving Marie the tour that Esme had asked for.

"Who's piano?" Marie asked as we passed Edward's noise maker "do you play?"

"It's my brother Edward's, he plays. I hate to admit it, but he's really good at it too."

"Can you play?"

I shrugged

"A little, Edward's been teaching me the basics, I'm no Beethoven that's for sure." I paused "come on, let me show you my room." I guided Marie up the stairs as she stared in awe over the house. She was the first of my friends to see the house and I knew with the graduation party looming, she hopefully wouldn't be the last. I had plans to invite my friends to the party that way I wasn't bored as hell with my siblings classmates, or worse put to work by my sisters.

When we reached my room Chaplin threw a fit. He was so confused at the new scent in the room, he was used to Bella but he knew this wasn't Bella.

Marie heard him instantly and looked over, I knew Marie loved animals, but I wasn't entirely sure if that love covered rats.

"You never told me you had a rat," she said smiling at Chap and I nearly sighed with relief. "he's adorable!

"I guess it never came up, that's Chaplin," I unlatched his cage and let him crawl out, he went right to Marie and sniffed her hand, before climbing up her arm. "He's not shy, watch out, if he likes you he'll fall asleep on your shoulder. Marie was about to comment when she finally looked around my room.

"Whoa Chris," she said in amazement "look at all this stuff," she looked over my books and grinned wide, Marie's a bookworm like me so I knew she'd appreciate it. I was also cautiously waiting for the bed question, or I should say the lack there of a bed question, but it never came, Marie was to astonished by my stuff to notice something so insignificant. "I never knew you had so many books and look at all the movies you have, this is amazing."

"Hey anytime you want to borrow a book or a movie, or even come over and watch one let me know. My brothers and sisters don't share my taste in movies so I'm usually by myself."

Marie smiled a little

"That's right you like horror movies,"

"Among other things," I replied.

"Oh Chris," she moved to my desk and picked up the framed picture of my parents and me when I was a baby, it's in black and white of course, and I waited for the question from Marie, the clothes are clearly from another time and I wondered how I would explain that. "Are these…these your parents?"

I took a deep breath, I hated to lie to Marie but I didn't know what to really say.

"Ye…yes," I stumbled

"Did they like history as much as you?" she asked and I raised an eyebrow "I mean this picture is so old fashion looking and the way they are dressed, did they do it as a theme?"

I could have sighed with relief,

"They were real history buffs," I said truthfully, my dad loved history, so did my mum so I wasn't lying.

"You look so much like your dad," Marie added gently putting the picture back on my desk and when she turned to face me her eyes were bright red and there were tears streaming down her face.

Marie is really sensitive and I know she's felt bad for me after hearing my story last year about what had happened to my birthparents.

We'd had a class assignment to write a memoir and I had written mine with the story that my real parents were killed in a car accident when I was five and I was formally adopted by my godparents, IE Carlisle and Esme. But that story had made the girls in my class go weepy and Marie was no exception. Still it was weird she was crying now.

"Marie? What's wrong?" I asked,

Chaplin seemed to be asking the same thing as he sniffed her face gently, she hiccupped, somewhere between a giggle at Chaplin tickling her and still sobbing, Chap didn't like this situation and moved back down her arm to his cage.

"Chri…Chris, I didn't know how to tell you, I wanted to wait, but I can't wait any longer."

Then I realized what was about to happen, the funny feeling I had gotten over the phone, the odd feelings I've been getting from Marie lately, and the very weird feeling I'd gotten at her house in the afternoon. I was about to learn why I'd felt so funny.

"Tell me what?"

Marie rubbed her eyes and I reached over to hold her shoulder, she collapsed into my arms and sobbed into my shoulder. I was getting more and more concerned

"Chris, I'm moving at the end of June."

I felt my stomach drop in shock, didn't expect that one

"Wh…what?" I stuttered

She hiccupped again

"My dad was offered a coaching position at a college in Boston, Massachusetts, he's there now getting everything settled. It's his dream job, he's so excited."

"I…" I was stunned I wasn't sure what to really say "have you told anyone else?"

"Only Sarah I told her the other day, oh Chris, I'm going to miss you guys so much, I'm happy for my dad, but I don't want to leave…I love all my friends…I…I love you."

Those three words I never expected to hear from anyone who wasn't family, I've known Marie has liked me since we moved here when I was "in" sixth grade, but I knew it was just a first crush kind of thing. I remembered how things had gone down last year when we had "moved" after Bella's birthday and I realized the same thing was about to happen again and just like last year, I wasn't ready to accept it.

I knew I had to and I knew I had to give Marie her life, telling me that she loved me was just a part of the whole boyfriend girlfriend thing, a stage I still wasn't sure we were at. But this gave Marie the chance to have a life, Boston is a beautiful city, Marie would love it there, she'd have so many opportunities and it was best for her and best for the Burke family.

I gently rubbed Marie's back trying to calm her down, sad myself, but accepting at the same time.

* * *

A/N: I gave you guys a lengthy chapter because I wont be near internet for the next few days possibly longer, so I'm trying to get some stuff uploaded before that happens, so this is updated tonight and another of my fics will be updated tomorrow night. I hope this chapter flowed well and I hope the twist at the end did it's job. You will see in the future why I dropped that bombshell, but for now thank you to everyone who had reviewed, read, put this on their favorites, or alerts. I appreciate it everyone! Till next time! Take care.


	18. Chapter 18

xxx

The rest of the night was pretty quiet, once I got Marie calmed down enough I got the whole story out of her, her dad hadn't been looking for a new job, but a mentor of his, who coached basketball at Boston College was preparing to retire, he had to pick a replacement and instantly thought of Mr. Burke. Mr. Burke had flown out to Boston the other day to sign paperwork and start looking for a house, he was willing to commute apparently so he had started his search outside of the city, actually the main town he was scoping out wasn't to far from where the Patriots play in Foxboro, so I knew exactly where he was looking.

Marie was understandably to put it blunt, freaking out over the whole thing. I don't blame her, it's one thing to be used to moving around, but when you're shy like Marie and have spent your ENTIRE life in this town, moving anywhere, especially cross country is a daunting event.

I felt so bad for Marie, but what could I do exactly, except promise to keep in touch with her and be a friend as much as possible. I let her pick a movie to watch and made a big bowl of popcorn for us to "share".

Once it was over, Esme and I drove Marie home, and after we dropped her off, we began the long and for the most part quiet ride home. I was still kind of stunned and trying to sort everything out.

A part of me was happy for Marie, she'd have a great life in Massachusetts, I've been to the Bay-state loads of times, I mean I was there a few months ago for a football game with my brothers and father, it's beautiful, she'd love the city, the state itself, plus the Cape has some beautiful beaches. Granted I've never seen it in the summer, I've only been there in the winter when there isn't much sun, but still, I love the Cape the instant I saw it, and I know Marie, she'd love it too.

What I couldn't help but think of was everything I was getting thrown my way, I don't often think about myself like that, the whole 'why me?' kinda thing, I mean how selfish can you get.

But I'd already lost one of my best friends a few months earlier (Charlie).

I was forcibly uprooted from a place I'd come to love and from friends I was close with, all because my idiot brother is paranoid.

I had to watch my entire family breakdown in fear at the thought that we might lose Edward, Alice, and Bella to the Volturi.

There was the distinct possibility that a vampiric serial killer who apparently fancied himself Jack the Ripper incarnate, was loose in Seattle and possibly recruiting minions and aside from going to war, there wasn't much we could do about it.

Finally, a girl who I saw as a very close friend (in a way more than that) was moving. I don't believe in a lot of things, but all this happening kinda made me wonder what else could go wrong, what else I had to look forward too.

Thinking about that though, I quickly decided I didn't want to know, I had to stop letting my hunches overtake my profile, I shook my head, trying to change the subject in my head.

"Chris?" Esme said softly, bringing me back from my thoughts, I looked over at her and gave her a half grin, trying to put on a mask. Esme knows me however, she clearly knew I wasn't as comfortable as I was pretending to be. "Christian, I'm so sorry about Marie,"

I shrugged

"Whatcha going to do, someone was bound to move on, if it wasn't Marie it would've been someone else in the group, it would've been us for all we know. I mean we can't keep going in Forks forever, we're going to move eventually. I'm just not sure if Marie moving first is the good step or the bad one."

Esme held her arm out and I caved, I leaned over and let her hug me close, sometimes you just gotta admit that you need a hug, especially with a mum like Esme.

"Sweetie, when is Marie moving?"

"End of June,"

"Well you guys just need to share as much time together and with your other friends as possible, you guys have a month, I know it doesn't seem like a lot of time, but you have the dance, and the graduation party, Marie is welcome at the house anytime Chris you know that, I want you and Marie to make the most of this month, if you guys want to go to a movie in Port Angeles you let me know and dad or I would be happy to drive you guys, anything you want to do together, we'll make it happen okay?."

I nodded

"Thanks mum, that means a lot."

She kissed the top of my head, before looking at me carefully

"Chris, do you remember when I told you to look at things as a blessing in disguise?"

I searched my mind, trying to remember her saying those exact words to me, it took a second, but I did remember, it was my first Christmas eve with the Cullens, my first birthday as a vampire. Carlisle and Esme took me into town even though I was still a 'bloodthirsty' newborn vampire, it was in all fairness a pretty dangerous move on my parents' part, I was in pretty good control of my instincts, but a split second could change that. I remember I was feeling incredibly guilty during the mass, I felt like I had abandoned my human parents, especially my mother when she needed me the most.

I was pretty guilt ridden my entire first year as a vampire, I never felt right about giving into this life so easy. A part of my subconscious ate away at me, whispering that death should have been the answer, not immortality, that I ran away like a coward, not the descendent of Scottish chieftains (though in all reality, my human father was never able to fully back up that particular story, but that's beside the point.)

Esme and Carlisle did everything to convince me I was wrong, they wanted me to realize that I had nothing to feel guilty about, that my mother would not have wanted me to die that day when there was someone who could save my life. It may not have been the life she would have expected, but Esme reminded me that no mother would ever want death for her child over life, even if it wasn't a human life.

I still felt pretty guilty about the whole thing, especially with the last image of my mother branded in my mind for ever, the sadness on her face when Carlisle told her I was dead, but I've slowly come to terms with it, I'm not as guilt ridden as I was back then, it doesn't change anything and even if it could be changed, I don't think I would make a different decision, I don't think that if I was laying on that table again and Carlisle's offer was once again out there, I would do anything different. I've accepted my vampire life for the most part and besides, I love my family, I wouldn't trade all the years I've been with the Cullens just for the chance at a normal human death, oh yeah that's not morbid to think about.

I looked at Esme and nodded

"Yeah I remember, why?"

"This is the same kind of situation Chris, Marie is leaving there is no changing that, but it will be interesting to see where these changes lead, for both of you."

I raised an eyebrow and looked at my mother suspiciously, before profiling what she was actually saying, without really saying it.

"Oh mum, you guys aren't going back to the whole 'let's set Chris up again?' the Denali's were talking about the same thing last time we were up there."

"Oh you are so stubborn Christian," Esme replied "would it really be so bad?"

"I've got four words for you mum: 'Russian, twenty years ago.' Need I say more?"

Esme rolled her eyes

"Sweetie it was a long time ago and it was one error in judgment, you're not going to hold that against us forever are you?"

"Maybe," I replied grinning

"So stubborn," was all Esme could reply to that.

When we got home the house was quiet, pretty quiet for a sleepover and I was pretty sure Bella had called it an early night.

I went upstairs, the door was open a crack, the lights were off, and I could hear Bella's deep breathing followed with little snores; she was clearly asleep and had been for a while. She wasn't sleeping well though, I could hear her rustling and little whimpers. I pushed the door open a little more and peeked in just to check on her.

A part of me wanted to laugh as she'd stubbornly ignored the bed that Edward bought her and had made herself well I'm assuming comfortable on the floor. That laughter was cut short though, I couldn't be sure, but I think she was having a nightmare, she'd kicked off the blankets and was kind of flailing around she couldn't settle.

I didn't want to be creepy, but someone clearly needed to calm Bella down, she was going to hurt herself. I hated to be the one, Bella knows me, but how would she react if she woke up and I was standing over her pulling a blanket back on her like I was tucking her in. I know I'd freak out, I'm pretty sure she would too, but someone had to…I took a cautious step forward, moving into Edward's room, maybe if I didn't make a sound I could do this quickly and not wake her up and therefore not freak her out.

"Chris?" Rosalie's voice came from behind me, apparently she'd heard Bella's flailing too and I thought I was going to sigh with relief, whether Rose realized it she had a job to do.

"I think she's having a nightmare," I answered nodding at Bella, Rosalie kind of winced and sighed.

"Okay?"

I folded my arms over my chest and gestured into the room, Rosalie narrowed her eyes at me for a second before accepted and went into the room, she pulled the blanket back up over Bella. She lowered her voice and whispered

"Shh, Bella, calm down it's okay, I'm sorry, shhh." It was actually kind of motherly and I had to stifle a chuckle.

Bella didn't exactly calm down, but she did ease up on the flailing, Rosalie's words seemed to do the trick. I raised an eyebrow at my sister as she came back to the doorway.

"Two questions and I'm pretty sure you can answer one of them." I started to say,

Rosalie rolled her eyes and nodded for me to follow her to my room. Chaplin went berserk when he realized Rosalie was coming to visit him, she rolled her eyes again this time at him. She walked over to this cage, picked up his treats, unlatched his cage and gave him a small handful of sunflower seeds, before latching the cage back up.

I couldn't help but stare in shock, my mouth dropping open.

"Not a word Christian, I still blame his ancestors for the Bubonic plague." Rose growled, her back was to me so she was just assuming I was making a shocked face. I shrugged and grinned.

"Right, the epidemic that was started by infected fleas, not rats." I said "anyways, my questions, why is Bella sleeping on the floor?"

Rosalie threw her hands up in the air and sat down on my window seat,

"Who the heck knows, some kind of grudge thing against Edward showering her with unnecessary gifts."

I thought that over, yeah it sounded pretty plausible, given we're talking about Bella and Edward, Queen and King of the land of Stubborn, I mean Esme can call me stubborn all she wants, I call it being prideful, it's a Scottish thing, Edward and Bella are the real stubborn ones in this family, only it's against each other.

"Okay so that explains the sit in against the bed, but why the nightmare?" I asked looking at Rose expectantly, she shrugged, but I know my sister and I know when she's lying.

"How should I know, I'm not a mind reader." I crossed my arms over my chest and looked at her harder, she did know I could profile it, she was clearly aware of the fact that I knew and was going to tell me, she sighed "fine, I may…possibly be responsible for her nightmare, inadvertently."

"Rose what do you mean inadvertently?" I asked, trying not to grin

Rose narrowed her eyes at me and shook her head

"You told her your story; I felt that I should be allowed to share my own."

"Oh Rose you didn't," Rose crossed her arms and couldn't look me in the eyes "oh you did."

I walked over and sat down next to my sister, she looked so sad, not smug like one would expect, I knew it couldn't have been easy for her to tell Bella her story, it wasn't easy for me to tell mine, but considering, my own story is far less horrific then my sister's.

I remember the first time I heard about it, Edward told me, I don't know why he did, but I was glad he did, it helped me understand my sister a whole lot better. To go through what she went through and to still be the good person my sister is, it's inspiring. Rosalie may be a lot of things and come off as egotistical and spiteful, but she's not, even with what her fiancé and his friends did to her, even with Carlisle changing her without her permission and forcing this life on her.

Rosalie is one of the mentally strongest in our family, in a lot of ways that fall under that word's definition, but her horrific entrance to this life is one thing that made her strong. She's also on par with Carlisle as far as strength and resistance, she may have gone on a mini killing spree with her fiancé and his gang, but she never drank from any of them. Rosalie, like Carlisle and myself we've never tasted human blood, but unlike my father and sister I've come close to slipping a few times, my will is nowhere near as strong as them, I've just got physically stronger siblings and parents.

The few times I've come close to giving in, at least one member of the family was able to physically stop me from going through with it, Rosalie has never had that issue and it amazes me.

"She needed to know, she needed to know why I don't particularly care for her and why I think she's making such a big mistake." Rosalie, explained and I nodded

"That's why I talked to her too, well sorta, I mean we disagree on the motives a little. I don't mind if Bella becomes one of us, I just think she's jumping into it way to fast, she's not looking at the bigger picture. It doesn't take a profiler or a psychic to see what the future will look like for not only Bella, but those around her too, her father, mother, friends, everyone around her with a pulse. Edward's got her in such a bubble, he's just hoping she'll give up on this whole becoming a vampire thing if he doesn't tell her much, the good and the bad. He's an idiot sometimes." I paused "I mean I don't think us telling her what we went through is going to have a better effect, she's still going to insist on becoming one of us, but it definitely makes her think. She was crying after I talked to her and you just gave her nightmares. I think we've given her a lot to think about."

Rosalie reached over and hugged me tight; I think she needed the hug and I've learned over the years that if my sisters or mum wants to hug me, there is no escaping it and I should just man up and take it.

"Chris, did I hear right earlier? Is Marie moving?" that would be the main issue in a house full of vampires, if Edward's not invading your private thoughts, the entire family can hear the conversation no matter where in the house they are. I nodded, no point in denying it, Rosalie hugged me tighter "oh Chrissy I'm so sorry," she whimpered, "I know how important she was to you."

I nodded

"Thanks Rose," I paused "I mean it's not like I was ever going to tell her about us, but I was hoping we'd have at least the summer to hang out. You know I was actually considering going back next year?"

"Back for your sophomore year?" Rosalie asked and I nodded

"Yeah, give it a try. I was going to test things out at the graduation party, see if anyone noticed. Guess there's no point in that now."

"Chris, was Marie the only reason you were going to go back to Forks next year?"

"No, not the only reason," I paused "just pretty much the main reason. I have my other friends are still there, so I guess I could go back." I paused "it won't be the same without Marie." I took a deep breath and laughed a little "this is going to sound so bloody stupid, but you know I actually felt normal hanging out with her, not just normal…I felt human again, I haven't felt like that since 1940. I felt like I was a regular high school freshman hanging out with his group of close friends. That's all because of Marie, she accepted me as a friend which allowed her group of friends to accept me."

"Chris that's not stupid at all,"

"Oh, believe me it is, but if we can pull it off at the party, I guess I can try another year, maybe it was just Marie paving the way, maybe it won't be so different without her. But I'm kinda nervous to find out."

We both looked up when we heard footsteps coming up the stairs, very light footsteps that could only be Alice, she gently knocked on my door and came inside.

"Hi Chris," she said softly and I instantly realized that Alice had known what Marie was going to tell me tonight, she'd tried to hide it, but I had known something was up, but I was so focused on Marie coming over for dinner I ignored my instincts. "Chris I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I had a vision the other day of Marie telling you something I didn't know what it was, I just saw how sad she was and how sad you became, then when I focused my attention on her I saw her packing and I knew. I just didn't know how to tell you Chris. You're not mad at me are you?"

I shook my head

"Alice don't worry about it, I'm not mad. With everything you've got on your watch list, this is a minor thing." I hugged my sister I grinned as she let go of me. "Sooo, how'd your sleepover extravaganza go? I saw that the guest of honor has already crashed."

Alice frowned, her face turning grumpy quick; Rose however giggled a little, clearly feeling better about being the cause of Bella's nightmares.

"Bella is being uncooperative." Alice replied, her face went from grumpy to sad, Rose and I exchanged a look before looking back at our sister

"Alice, what's wrong now?" Rosalie asked

"Edward's going to take back the Porsche," Alice said, I rolled my eyes. The car was beautiful, well minus the color, if Edward was going to take it back I would hope he'd take it back to get it painted.

"Edward's not going to take back the car Alice, I promise I will guard your Porsche with every matter of my being." Alice looked at me carefully "and if he does try to take it back he'll find his Aston Martin, or should I say, not find his Aston Martin far, far away, like Timbuktu."

That got a smile out of Alice and another eye roll from Rosalie. We heard footsteps on the stairs and all of us looked as Esme peeked into the room, she gave us all a look shaking her head.

"Why is the party up here?"

"Because this is the general area where the guest of honor is currently zonked out?" I asked

"You guys are going to wake Bella up." Esme kind of scolded, she was smiling though, at this point I think Bella was going to sleep through anything just to spite Alice for her sleepover and Edward for his kidnapping orders.

I grinned

"Mum, I think a freight train could barrel through the house and it wouldn't wake her up." I replied, I looked at my sisters "these two are just mad that they couldn't recreate all those stupid sleepover movies." This was probably a bad thing to say, especially since I was sitting in between my two sisters, as both, in sync with one another reached up and flicked my ears on both sides.

"Christian you are such a brat," they both exclaimed

"Sheesh, sister in surround sound," I said my grin getting wider

"Why don't you three go find something to do?" Esme asked, I looked over at my sisters

"can we take a peak under the hood of the Porsche?" I asked Alice, she pretended to hesitate and think this over, before she nodded

"Fine you can go play with the Porsche-"

She didn't even get to finish that sentence, I was already heading downstairs straight for the garage. I love having new toys in my garage.

Xxx

A/N: I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, but I wanted this chapter and chapter nineteen to be two separate chapters, not to mention chapter nineteen which should be uploaded by next weekend is much longer then this one. This seemed like a good place to kind of stop chapter eighteen. Also chapter nineteen really reconnects with the book and you'll see how. So till next update! Thanks as usual to all my wonderful supporters, I'd be lost without you guys!


	19. Chapter 19

Xxx

When Esme dropped me off at school I wondered for a moment if Marie would say anything about her moving, now that I knew. As far as I could tell though, at least during homeroom that is, that Marie had told only two people, Sarah and me. Poor Sarah looked miserable, her eyes were red and she had been clearly crying. Who could really blame her though, her best friend was moving away, Sarah and Marie had been best friends since Sarah moved to Forks when she was four.

By lunch time, everyone in our group of friends had heard about Marie moving. Actual food was ignored as the nine of us crowded in around our usual table, trying to reassure Marie (and Sarah) that it was going to be okay.

Marie had started sniffing as we left Spanish walking to lunch. The flood gates opened soon after, which set Sarah off, which in turn set Jenna and Kelly off. By the time we had been joined by Tisha, Paul, and Patrick who aren't in our Spanish class all five of the girls were sobbing and holding it each other, which moved to include us guys as they clung to us too.

"Mass is beautiful," Patrick explained "my cousins live on Cape Cod, in a town called…" he snorted "Sandwich,"

That go a smile out of Marie, actually it got a smile out of all of us.

"Really"? she asked

"Really," Patrick replied I was there last summer. Max and I road our bikes to the Cape Cod Canal and went to this pier that sold snacks and lunches. There were people fishing off the pier and huge tankers and cruise ships going through. You're going to love it!"

I nodded

"I was there a few years ago" I spoke up "for Thanksgiving." This was sort of true, we were actually there ten years ago, and it was so overcast the entire week that we could actually enjoy the cape. "My brothers and I even went into the ocean, sort of." I admitted "freaked my mum right out."

"you went swimming in November?" Paul exclaimed

"My brothers wanted to see how cold it really was" I lied shrugging "and well I didn't want to be left behind or called a chicken."

"How cold was it?" Steve asked

"I only got up to my knees, I chickened out." My oldest brother Emmett he actually went in deep enough to swim. Thought my mum was going to kill him. He was sick for a week afterwards, but he said it was worth it." I paused "when I was little, my real parents used to take me to this beach in England, I don't remember the name anymore, but I remember the water was freezing and that was in the summer."

"Speaking of summer," Marie said softly "maybe you guys can come visit me in the summer, or I can come back and visit?"

We all nodded quickly

"Of course!" Sarah exclaimed hugging Marie tight. "We'll have a reunion as often as possible."

I glanced over at the senior table, I hadn't really been paying attention to them today, I was focused entirely on Marie, but now I realized that Bella was gone, I don't even think she had made it to lunch, which was really odd. That thought was cut short for a moment as I spotted Angela who was watching us intently. She didn't look confused so I was assuming word had reached at least her.

Angela looked pretty sad, she is so motherly to us freshmen, but especially to Sarah, Marie, and me (for some reason I've been put on that list) but she is so nice and welcoming it's easy to feel safe around her.

I was about to get up and go ask her where my sister was when she walked in and sat down in a huff. No one, not even Angela tried to talk to her mainly because she was appeared to be deep in thought. But I know that look; she was trying to sort out a vision. She looked up when she felt me staring and indiscreetly shook her head and I understood immediately, Bella had cut class, not only that, but she had done so by being sprung from school, probably by Jacob. No wonder Alice was mad, she hadn't seen that coming, her visions for some reason couldn't extend to the wolves.

I personally couldn't understood what the problem was as far as Bella hanging out with her wolf friends, Edward's over protectiveness with the whole thing baffled me.

The wolves had been good to Bella, they had protected her and had even gotten out of whatever funk she had been in after we left last September.

I knew she had been going through a real rough pass, I saw the emails she sent to me and to Alice, hundreds of them. All of us had promised Edward to cut off contact with Bella and we had all adhered to that, that didn't mean I was going to stop keeping an eye on her, same with Alice.

Bella had no idea that Alice and I read each of the emails she sent, but I knew in the first few months she hadn't moved on like Edward had hoped. She was depressed, but the emails I received were more of a vent, or just her writing whatever came to mind, there wasn't a clear message involved, it was like Bella was telling me everything that was going on even though she knew I could hear it. Or so she thought.

It took a few months, but the emails slowed. I think it was around the same time that Bella began hanging out with the wolves. I could tell she still hadn't moved on, but she was getting better and that was because of Jacob and his friends.

So I saw no problem with Bella still being friends with the wolves. I worried about her safety too, but in all reality Bella was in just as much danger hanging out with a bunch of vampires as she was with a pack of wolves. Either one of us could potentially hurt her or worse, it was the risk that Bella was willing to take. Edward really couldn't dismiss her friendship with Jacob and the pack due to safety concerns without being hypocritical, but in all fairness that's what my brother is really good at, being a hypocrite.

Unfortunately my opinion really doesn't have any weight when it concerns my brother's girlfriend. And to be honest, I as surprised Bella lasted as long as she did being under house arrest with Alice as the jailor.

As if she had read my thoughts Alice glared at me a little and I shrugged, I wasn't concerned, she shouldn't be either.

Xx

When the final bell rang and slowly headed to the parking lot to meet my sister. Alice looked at me, panic and anger fighting for first place on her face, clearly she was still angry about Bella flying the coop.

"Chris, Edward is going to be so mad at me, how could Bella do this to me, this is not good."

"It wasn't to you Alice and it wasn't your fault. All this, I blame on Edward he has no one to blame but himself. Bella has the right to see her friends, he keeps drilling into her head that if she wants to go through with this whole thing she's going to miss a lot of things, including a lot of people. Yet when she wants to be friends who she will definitely never see again, he won't let her. He's being hypocritical Alice and once again it's going to come back and bite him in the as-"

"Chris," Alice warned

"You get the picture."

"Regular friends though Chris, human friends. The wolves are dangerous."

"And being with a family of vampires for a sleepover is the pinnacle of safety."

"Look what happened with you, Em, and Rose, that wolf was ready to turn you into kibble."

"Only 'cause we were near their territory." I explained "I said they were her friends, I didn't say they were the welcoming committee or were furry GPSs. They clearly didn't realize where the exact line of the border was, it was a misunderstanding." Alice gave me a look "a big misunderstanding," I paused "do you want me to tell Edward?"

Alice shook her head

"No, I'll do it. I'm still not all that comfortable with this, especially since once she is with them, I cant see her."

"I know Alice, but listen to the profiler. I feel fine about the whole thing, if I didn't I would tell you. You know I would." I paused Alice, I know you've got a lot you're watching for right now, but would you…is Marie going to be okay?" I hoped this little informative session would distract Alice, and it did, for a little bit anyways.

Alice smiled and patted my head, she clearly knew what I was trying to do and went along with it, and apparently she wanted the distraction too. Which clued me in that Alice was with me, we weren't all that concerned about Bella being with Jacob and we were both annoyed at Edward's over protectiveness, Alice was just worried about losing her Porsche.

She closed her eyes, searching for the future I'd asked for. Her smile got wider, which was a comforting sign.

"Chris, Marie is going to be fine. She'll feel overwhelmed and shy at first, but she's going to make a lot of new friends and excel. She's going to play basketball and softball and do well with them, they're going to help her really come out of her shell." She paused "she's going to be asked out next year, and go with him to the junior, then the senior prom. He's quiet and she just like her and also helps her to leave her shell. She'll be valedictorian and receive a lot of scholarships. She wants to go to Washington State so she can come back to her friends here, that's where Sarah will be going, but Marie ultimately picks Brown University and majors in teaching."

I grinned, I could easily picture that and I nodded at my sister,

"Thanks Alice," I said putting her reveal to an end. I could fill in the blanks, as long as I knew the basics and knew Marie would be happy, that was enough for me. Granted I knew the future wasn't set in stone and any part or even all of it could change, but that was fine.

"Anytime Chris, I know you're going to miss Marie, but you'll see, everything work out. Your future and Marie's, it will all settle itself out."

I rolled my eyes, laughing

"You keep saying that Alice, and yet I haven't seen it happen."

"Patience little brother, patience."

XXX

Saturday is the usual day I clean Chap's cage and I was glad to have the peace and quiet that came with Saturday.

The sleepover had ended in the morning, technically I think it ended last night when everyone came home. I could hear Bella and Edward talking all night, starting with the bed she refused to sleep in, moving to some really cheesy talk about being held hostage; it was really…I don't think there are words to properly describe it.

It actually reached the point where I was going to head downstairs, until the talk turned to Jacob and the wolf pack and a surprising reveal from Bella that Jacob would rather see her dead then one of us. Even through the wall I could hear the hurt in Bella's voice and I felt for her, hearing something like that from someone who is supposed to be your friend can't be easy. Of course the conversation quickly moved to the Denali clan and Tanya's crush on my brother and it was there I accepted defeat and went downstairs.

I had just put some new food in Chap's dish, when Emmett burst into my room and I saw all progress him and Chap have made go out the window as Chap jumped foot into the air and ran all the way to his cage.

"Gah, Emmett!" I exclaimed, but I stopped when I saw the look on Emmett's face, pure fear. "Em?"

"Edward just called, someone was in Bella's room, his scent is all over her room."

I stiffened

"Is Charlie okay?"

"He's fine, Ed said the scent is getting old, must have been this morning, before Alice dropped Bella off. Right before she dropped her off." Em paused "Edward wants Jaz and I to see if we can track the scent, he wants you to-"

"Profile Bella's room?" I guessed Emmett nodded as I pulled my sweatshirt on "Ed knows I won't go in without permission right?"

"Yeah," Emmett said and held out his phone "that's why he sent this after he called" I read the text 'tell Chris, it's okay, he can go in, please.'

I nodded

"Works for me,"

I grabbed my hat and followed my brother downstairs. Alice, Esme, Rose, and Carlisle were on the couch and the chair looking distressed, Jasper was at the door waiting for Em and I.

"Be safe," Esme said softly,

"Edward's on his way here with Bella," Emmett explained "we'll be back as soon as we can."

"Boys, no matter what, do not confront." Carlisle ordered gently "who ever was in Bella's house, if you catch up with them just tail. Please do not fight, not until we know what we are up against."

We exchanged a look, that was a tough order to follow, but none of us, even Jasper would go against Carlisle's wishes, he had his reason of course and it boiled down to our safety.

We bolted out of the house and headed towards Bella's house. It felt good to run instead of drive, I love being able to run as fast as I can with no limits. Granted it was late in the afternoon so we had to be careful not to draw attention, but still it was fun.

When we got to the Swan house my brothers went east, following the very strong scent that headed that way, me, I scaled the side of Bella's house and slipped in through the window. Edward had left one light on, so not to draw Charlie's attention.

I still wasn't sure how much help I was going to be, I've never been in Bella's bedroom so I mean my profile is going to be incomplete, at least I thought it was going to be. I moved closer to Bella's bed and took a big whiff, aside from my brother's scent and Bella's there was a third scent and boy did I recognize it.

I flashed back to Seattle, right after the game and the distinct scent that I had noticed, and then when Jasper and I were there, it was definitely the same. It made my stomach drop, was this guy following us or following Bella. I didn't like either scenario, but him following Bella was definitely the worst case scenario, then there was the whole cave incident a few weeks ago, was that connected too, I wouldn't be surprised at this point, but amazing I was getting much more of a profile then I had assumed I would.

All the previous profiles converged together forming a perfect scenario. This guy was young, older physically then us, but not by much, nineteen, twenty tops, he was a newborn, still under his first year as one of us, but he was getting close to his full year. It sort of explains why he was able to come into this house and leave Charlie alone, a brand new newborn, especially one being raised on human blood would not have been able to stand it.

The thing that was really bothering me was why, none of this really made sense, who would be so focused on us and Bella to go through all this trouble. I didn't think it was the Volturi, it wasn't really their style as much as I hated to admit it, but then who?

I carefully moved to the doorway, the guy hadn't come in through Bella's window, he had come in…from the front door. He walked right past Charlie, up the stairs and into Bella's room.

Bloody hell this guy was bold..., which made him dangerous. Chief Swan was watching the baseball game, thankfully he had no idea I was in the house. I just had to get to the front door to confirm my suspicions.

When I finally reached the front door, I glanced at Charlie carefully, but he was so focused I think an entire horde of us could be in here and he wouldn't notice, though when I looked closer, he was actually asleep and even snoring, I tried not to laugh. I wondered for a second if Charlie had fallen asleep before the intruder came in. Certainly explained why the invader left him alone, Charlie didn't pose a threat, at least in all reality, which was one good theory.

But still, even an older newborn might slip with that kind of opportunity. Charlie, asleep on the couch was basically like ringing the vampire all you can eat dinner bell. The intruder ignored that basic instinct, he left Charlie completely alone which told me one thing, the newborn was a pawn, a puppet on a string, he was being controlled by someone who had a lot of power over him, enough to make sure that he didn't do something to draw to much attention to himself.

If Bella hadn't noticed something was missing and Edward wasn't already heading over, we might not have known he was even there. The other thing that bugged me was the guy left the same way he came in, which meant he walked right by Charlie twice.

Oh this really was not good.

I ran back upstairs to Bella's room and went back out the window, running home as fast as I possibly could.

I got there just as Emmett and Jasper were going through the garage door,

"Guys!" I called and both my brothers turned around

"Chris, any luck?" Jasper asked

I nodded

"Yeah, but nothing any of us are going to like." Quickly I explained to my brothers what had occurred at Bell's house, Emmett seemed concerned, but not overly so, Jasper on the other hand had a serious look on his face, to Emmett this was shaping up to be an adventure of some sort, but Jasper was looking at the situation deeper, he knew the danger.

"Wonderful," Jasper muttered

"What about you guys?" I asked, Emmett held up a fern leaf and I raised my eye brow "er no thanks I've had my fill of green food."

He hit me on the head with the leaf before shoving it under my nose

"Sniff Chris, do you recognize it?"

I rolled my eyes and gave the fern a good sniff, that same scent that had been all over Bella's room was all over this fern

"Oh blood hell,"

"Guess that answers that question," Emmett replied

"It's not Volturi," I said softly "at least I don't think so, I want Carlisle to check it first, but…but it's definitely the same smell from Bella's house." I looked at Jasper "and it's the same from Seattle."

Jasper sighed

"Certainly explains why it smelt familiar." He muttered

"We can't tell Bella this, and I don't think we should tell Edward right away either. We have to tell Carlisle of course, but Bella has enough on her mind right now and Edward, we all know how he's going to react."

"You're suggesting that we keep something like this from Edward, a mind reader." Emmett said

"For now," I replied "come on, think about it Em, do the math. This, plus Edward, equals panicked Edward."

Jasper nodded

"Chris is right, for now we keep the Seattle connection out of the equation." Jasper agreed with me

"Right, blank wall, coming up." Emmett said grinning as we headed inside.

"Any luck?" Carlisle asked

"Long gone, hours ago," Emmett announced, "the trail went east, then south, and disappeared on a side road. Had a car waiting."

I headed over to the couch, Edward looked at me hard and I did my best to stay focused on just the regular profile, the one from Bella's room about who her visitor was. I made sure to leave Seattle out of the whole thing, I've been Edward's little brother long enough to know how to combat his telepathy. I sat down on the back of a chair, concentrating.

"That's bad luck," Edward said "if he'd gone west…well, it would be nice for those dogs to make themselves useful."

_Yeah, we've seen how well that works_ I thought and Edward glared at me, I returned the glare, then dropped my eyes, I wasn't in the mood to get into a glaring match with my brother.

I saw Bella wince and Esme try to comfort her, I felt so bad for her, she clearly thought all of this was her fault.

"Neither of us recognized him, nor Chris." Jasper said. I tried not to growl in spite of myself. I could practically feel Edward trying to probe my mind, he clearly didn't believe us and was getting frustrated that we weren't giving in.

"I'm certain it wasn't one of the Volturi." I said, looking at Carlisle

"But he wouldn't say no until you confirmed it." Jasper finished, he held out the fern to Carlisle who took it and gave it a sniff "Chris thought you might know the scent."

"No," Carlisle said. "Not familiar. No one I've ever met." He looked over at me and I nodded, confirming for my father I knew it wasn't one of the Volturi, but I wanted him to say that and I couldn't help but sigh with relief.

XXX

A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating and the shortness of this chapter and the fact that some of it was taken directly from Eclipse. You wouldn't believe what a pain this chapter ended up being, I got a lot of it written at school during and in between classes, but it was still not a fun chapter. However the next chapter should be up next week or by next weekend, in time for Easter I'm going to be writing up a storm to get both this and some other stuff updated. As always I thank everyone for the continued support!

Till next time!


	20. Chapter 20

I don't know how exactly my brother managed to call a truce with the wolves, and I was pretty sure Bella was the distinguished diplomat that got the job done. Regardless of how it happened, the wolves and us came to an agreement following the intruder incident at the Swan household.

We would not kill or fight with each other until we were sure that Bella and Chief Swan were safe, we agreed to regular shifts two at a time a few hours each, the Swan property never unoccupied and unknowingly hosted one set of either wolf or vampire. During shift change was the only contact we had with one another and we were all pretty much okay with that.

I was pretty happy about being out of the house for this mission as I was calling it. After our family meeting following the intruder I had profiled tension between Alice and Edward, something I wasn't used to seeing. After Edward drove Bella home I cornered Alice and got the story out of her, Edward had apologized for his idiocy, but he had gone so far as to blame Alice for the whole incident, because the intruder had slipped past her vision.

Believe me I was not happy about that and Edward was lucky that Jasper hadn't been home, or me for that matter. He had no right to blame all this on her, with everything Alice was keeping watch on, it was understandable how some things were going to fall through the cracks.

I was glad Edward had apologized, because if he hadn't I would have certainly made sure he did, but the point of the matter was still present, he had blamed Alice for something she had no control over and that wasn't right. He knew it too, well he knew I was pissed at him and to make amends, Edward personally asked me to stand guard at Bella's.

Now to some that might seem a pretty crappy way to make amends, but my brother knows me, he knows it won't seem like work to me, it'll be like a game.

Esme insisted on going with me for the few hours I would be outside of Bella's house. She wasn't going to be home, Jacob had invited her down to the reservation for some kind of bonfire, I think she mentioned it was a council meeting for the Quileute leaders.

I did feel a jealous on that part, shape-shifting Indians aside, our Quileute neighbors fascinate me, I think anything having to do with the Pacific Northwest tribes is amazing, the stories, the carvings, the traditions, it's cool to me.

Long before I even became a vampire when I was still just a regular kid in London I'd read books on Native American tribes every chance I got, westerns at the cinema were a great treat, playing cowboys and Indians with my friends, things like that.

For someone who spent most of his early childhood running wild through the highlands and hanging around animals I felt pretty connected with nature and I was pretty sure that's what Native Americans were like too.

When Carlisle first explained the treaty with the Quileute and why we couldn't go on their land I was disappointed but determined to learn all I could about them, when I found out all the stories about them shape-shifting into wolves from Carlisle that just made our Indian neighbors that much cooler in my eyes.

So I wondered what kind of stories, what kind of event Bella was privy too at the bonfire and I really hoped she would take detailed mental notes to relay them to me.

Esme and I stood just near the tree line watching the Swan house, Charlie was watching TV and honestly didn't notice his keepers outside. It had started to downpour an icy rain about twenty maybe thirty minutes into our shift.

I made sure Esme stayed under the thick tree branches so she was somewhat dry and I took the responsibility for running patrol around the property line. Two of the wolves were supposed to relieve us for the remainder of the night and Emmett and Rosalie were going to take the morning shift.

With about five minutes or so left in our shift, I insisted Esme head home, I was going to do one more sweep of the area before following her, just as soon as the canine squad arrived. A few minutes after Esme left I saw a light in the Swan house turn on, Bella must've returned home from her powwow. I took a deep breath and pulled my rain slicker tighter around my body. It's impossible of course for me to get cold and even though I felt the rain, it was cold to the touch, even though I knew it wasn't just rain it was freezing rain.

Just as I was about to do my sweep the light in Bella's room dimmed a little as her shadow stood in front of the window looking out. Even with the distance, the darkness, and the rain I could see the concern on her face, she was also a little mad.

I waved at her and she waved back, gesturing for me to come to the house. I looked around and sighed giving in. I quickly scaled the tree outside of her window and squatted down on the thick branch, balancing perfectly.

"Sup Bella, have fun at the bonfire?"

She nodded

"I heard a story about the tribe, I think you'd love it." she replied

"Really?" I asked, my eyes gleaming with excitement as I leaned closer "do tell!"

"I wouldn't be able to do it justice."

"Bella, you can't stay you heard a story I would love then refuse to tell me, that's cruel and unusual punishment."

"I'll tell you later okay?"

"Fine, be that way." I replied giving her a half grin "do you need anything, are you okay?" I figured I'd cover the basics, just to make sure she was okay.

"I was going to ask you the same thing, Chris come on it's pouring rain and it's freezing out, why don't you come in here and dry off."

I grinned and shook my head

"It's okay Bella, it's not that cold out. 'Sides I can't feel it anyways."

"This whole thing is ridiculous," Bella shot back "who else is out there with you?"

Apparently Bella knew about the pair agreement.

"Er," I started to say, not really sure if I should answer her or not. Anyone in the family wouldn't make her happy, besides, Bella had this look in her eyes, like she was going to go off the deep end any second.

"Christian," she said sternly

That was new, Bella never really used my full name like that; apparently she was getting more comfortable with us, interesting.

"Fine, mum's heading home, she was out here keeping an eye on your dad with me. The wolves should be coming any minute to take over."

"Esme!?" Bella exclaimed "oh come on she shouldn't be out there in this, neither should you, none of you should be."

"Chill Bella, we don't mind, this is fun."

"Chris I know you won't catch a cold, but you have a zero attention span, you've got to be going out of your mind with boredom."

"You'd think that wouldn't you, but heck no, I'm having fun!" she narrowed her eyes at me and I shrugged "I'm serious. When I was a kid, my mates and I would play manhunt for hours! We'd split into teams and take over the park, capturing each other, interrogating on where the enemies' base was located, fending off rescue attempts. We'd play until it was too dark to see, we'd play in rain, snow, fog, it didn't matter, the weather added to the atmosphere, made it more realistic. This reminds me of that, it's like being a kid again. You seriously think this is cold and nasty out?"

Bella nodded

"Yes," she said matter-of-factly

"There is no cold in this state in the spring that compares to most days in London, even in the spring. London can be a beautiful city, but when it rains we're talking monsoon and it's freezing, goes right through to your bones. And still we were out playing in it. My mum used to get so mad at me when I'd come home looking like Swamp Thing, drenched and covered in mud from playing. Like I said being outside, tracking through the woods, running spuratic sweeps of the area, it's like being a kid back in London. Infiltrating enemy territory, standing guard over the castle, preparing to defend the castle, honor and it's inhabitants to the death!" I finished exclaiming.

"To the death, really Chris?" Edward asked coming up the tree behind me. "Over dramatic much?" He pulled himself carefully past me, climbing into Bella's room.

"Speak for yourself bro. I was telling Bella like it is." I replied grinning "I was also explaining why I'm having fun with this."

"Right," Edward started "Jacob and one of his pack-mates are coming. Are you and mom heading home?"

I nodded, shrugging off Bella's look

"She is. I'm going to do one more sweep of the general area, just to make sure we're in the clear." I grinned "besides my commander hasn't given me permission to disperse so still waiting on that order sir."

Edward rolled his eyes, clearly not sure if I was being sarcastic or serious, truth be told it was a little of both.

"Chris, seriously how old are you?" he asked sighing a little

"Old enough to remember what real fun means, and young enough unlike some people I know" yes that was directed right at my wound too tight brother "to actually enjoy it."

"Go home Chris," Edward said pointedly

I grinned, stood up on the tree branch still balancing, clicked my heels together and saluted.

"Sir, yes Sir! All Ship Shape and fancy brass, Captain Boring Sir! Permission to engage in R and R Sir."

Bella was cracking up at this point, she was trying to keep it down partly so Charlie wouldn't hear her giggles, but also because Edward was shaking his head at her for encouraging me, clearly Bella was amused by my antics and by Edward's annoyance towards them. Boy was it going to be a lot of fun when she did become one of us and I could annoy Ed on a more permanent basis with Bella encouraging me.

Edward rolled his eyes at me, he was trying not to laugh as well, he knows me better than Bella and has been subjected to my antics on a longer term basis. Amused or not enough was enough. He leaned out the window and made a move to shove me off of the tree branch, just to get me to shut up and go away.

I saw it coming though and fell back before he could. I allowed myself to just drop from the tree branch and I swear I heard Bella gasp in shock.

"Chris!" she exclaimed.

I flipped myself around like a cat and landed easily on my feet, leaving a small trench in Bella's yard.

"Don't worry about him," Edward explained reassuring Bella "he's being a show off. Sometimes I swear he's been hanging around real fourteen year olds for way to long."

"Correction oh mathematically challenged one, most of my friends are fifteen now." I corrected "besides Bella, don't listen to him, he's just jealous that I'm more acrobatic than he is." I grinned at Bella and swept off my hat, bowing to her dramatically "Ado, Ado fair maiden, parting is such sweet sorrow…" I paused "oh wait, hold on, scratch that, that's Juliet's lines" I looked at Edward "hey Juliet aren't you supposed to correct me if I say your lines? This is the balcony scene right?"

I was laughing so hard, I nearly couldn't get the words out, I was in a goofy mood and I couldn't figure out why, I may not be as serious as Edward, but I'm usually a lot more serious than this.

Now Edward growled loudly at me and I probably knew I went a little too far, but Bella was having trouble breathing she was laughing so hard and I could see a small amused smile from Edward.

"Chris whatever you got into tonight that has made you this loopy I hope it's not catchy, now go home before mom has a panic attack."

"Fine, night Bella! Night Eduilette!"

"I'm going to kill him," Edward muttered to Bella "absolutely kill him, he is spending way too much time with Emmett,"

"Oh, leave him alone he's having fun, granted it's at your expense, but give him a break he's been standing in the rain all night. He's probably bored, who can blame him." Bella replied

"Would you prefer I start calling you Ophelia?" I asked "She was kinda nutsie, ooh, wait I got it! You're Lady Macbeth seeing a spot that's not there!"

"Go Home!"

Taking that as my cue, I waved at the pair of them and headed towards the woods. Right at the tree line I felt two bodies enter the area and looked up to see two pairs of eyes looking back at me. I slowed down and moved cautiously towards the eyes, truce or no truce I was still going to be careful, Jacob probably wouldn't attack me, but who knew what his buddy might do.

"Sup guys?" I said, they exchanged a look and I swear I saw Jacob wolf rolling his eyes at me, but that was the only response I got. Really determined to make light of this entire situation and seriously starting to wonder if Edward was right I had gotten into something that made me loopy, I grinned at the wolves, knowing full well Edward and Bella were watching and I was probably about to do something stupid and pretty childish "Bwaha! Look! Behold! Listen to them the Children of the Night! Vat beautiful music they make!" I raised my arms at the last part just like Count Dracula.

I heard a noise and looked behind me to see Edward slapping his face, explaining to Bella what I was doing. She burst out laughing again and I swear if she got any louder Charlie was going to come outside to find out what all the racket was, I was honestly surprised he hadn't come out yet.

"Christian!" Edward hissed, "Go home! Stop annoying!"

"Fine," I grumbled, "ruin my fun,"

I turned to run when I heard something that sounded like a snicker, it was Jacob, he was making some kind of weird growing noise but if I didn't know any better I would say it was actually a laugh.

Now I felt a whole lot better about the situation, I may have annoyed Edward, but at least I had amused Bella and the wolves. This whole thing was serious, we were standing out here in the rain to protect Bella and her father, but that didn't mean we couldn't have fun or amuse ourselves. I gave the wolves a wave and bolted into the woods.

Esme had apparently waited for me about a half mile from the Swan house. She clearly had heard my comments and was shaking her head at me when I slowed to a stop in front of her.

"Christian Aiden Cullen, was that all really necessary?" she asked, I could hear it in her voice and read it in her body language, she wasn't as annoyed as Edward, but she did think I was acting way out of character.

In all fairness that was something that Emmett would have done, not me so much, maybe Edward was right and I have been spending way to much time with Em. Then I thought that over grinning, that wasn't possible.

"Sorry mum,"

"Chris what was that all about anyways?"

"Just having some fun, I guess I kinda fed off of Bella's reaction to it, she was laughing I mean really laughing, it was funny to her and with everything that's going on I figured her laughing is a good thing. And Jacob laughed too, it lightened the whole situation up a little. I know this is no joking matter, but we're all going to go crazy if we don't look at the good side too."

Esme reached over and hugged me tight, we started to walk home, her arm still around my shoulder, holding me close.

"I know Chris and you're right. But really sweetie, calling Edward Eduilette? Where did that one come from?"

"Too much?"

"Just a bit," I saw Esme's mouth twitch a little as she fought a smile

"He needs to lighten up mum, I know it, you know it, Bella even knows it."

"So, speaking of knowing things. When were you and Jasper going to tell me about Seattle?"

_Busted_, I thought

"Er, what about Seattle?"

"Christian you are such a horrible liar. You said to Jasper the scent was the same from Seattle."

"Oh, that," I said softly "look mum we didn't keep it from you on purpose, we…we just knew you and dad wouldn't let us go if we told you straight out."

"Chris, you know dad and I do not keep secrets from one another, he told me right after he talked to you boys. We were both pretty disappointed that you and Jasper went to Seattle without telling anyone."

"We didn't want to worry you guys, but…I had to know what was going on there. I had to have time to get a profile."

"And did you?" Esme asked and I nodded

"Unfortunately, there's a seriously large coven in Seattle, and I can't be sure, but nearly all of them are definitely newborns, under the command of an older newborn, nearly at his first full year. There was a woman..." I paused; I really didn't want to describe the scene to Esme.

I had been keeping it quiet with only Jasper and Carlisle knowing. I hated for Esme to know what had happened to that woman, but more importantly I didn't want Rose to find out either. I had told Carlisle that the scene reminded me of all the stories I'd heard about Jack the Ripper, but what I kept from him was that it reminded me of something else too.

I've got a pretty good imagination, it gets a little out of control sometimes and really sends my profiles out there, but when I first heard what had happened to Rose, how Carlisle found her, exactly how she came to enter this life. I was unable to stop my imagination from creating the nightmare my sister would have gone through and it terrified me. After all I was still young in this life and that image stayed with me pretty strong.

Seeing that woman on the ground, blood drained from her body, viciously mutilated, for a brief moment I didn't see a perfect stranger, I saw my sister. Of course I wasn't going to tell this to anyone, especially not Esme and Rose.

"Chris?"

"She was killed, I heard her screams and couldn't do anything to stop it, but I felt compelled to go investigate. I told Carlisle that seeing her, I knew how the people who found Jack the Ripper's victims felt, it was awful. But by going we learned a lot, it's just one more piece of the puzzle, hopefully sooner rather than later we can get all the pieces matched up and figure out what's going on, and more importantly stop it somehow. I hate to think it's all connected, but…I think it is."

Esme didn't say anything for a moment, she simply hugged me tighter and I hugged her back."

"Between you and Alice, I hate seeing the both of you with so much on your minds. Poor Alice trying to keep track of everyone's future and you with these profiles pulling you every which way." Esme sighed, her voice was almost pained "sweetie, is there anything dad and I can do to help? I am so afraid that all of this is going to be too much for you and Alice, so much pressure on you both"

I grinned and shook my head

"Mum, all that goofing on Edward I just did? That actually made me feel better, a lot better than I have in weeks." I paused "and if my profile is correct, the best way for Alice to avoid a mental break down, man I can't believe I'm suggesting this, but letting her go wild with the graduation party planning, that will take a lot off of Alice's mind I know. "

Esme chuckled a little

"I suppose you're right, I do fear what our house will look like when all is said and done."

"Trust me mum, I'm afraid of that myself." I paused and grinned wider, "race you home?"

Esme smiled gently, she took my hat off and kissed the top of my head, before replacing my hat.

"How about a nice stead jog instead?"

I nodded

"Sure," as we started to jog I definitely felt better like I'd said, much better than I had in weeks. I hated keeping things from Esme and knowing that she was pretty much filled in on all details was a weight off my shoulders, I just hoped the weight of that knowledge hadn't been put on my mother's instead, she was worried enough without Jasper and I's encounter in Seattle to add to it.

xxx

A/N: Okay I just want to address something that has come up from you guys the last few chapters. A lot of you guys are kind of sad/upset that I'm writing Marie out of the story. I PM'd some of you guys explaining why, but I'm going to give a cliff notes version, I don't want to ruin future chapters or future fics by telling everyone what's going to happen as far as Chris's relationship future. i do have a method to my madness and I do have big plans for Chris, I will let everyone know when it'll be Marie's last time in this story, she will not be back as a physical character. She will not find out that she's been close friends with a vampire all this time and she will not be joining the Cullen family.

What Alice saw in Marie's future is what is going to happen for her. Marie was a very special character to me and I will miss writing about her, but she is not the main character of the story and I have a good reason for writing her out of the story and I hope you guys will stick with me and be patient because I think by the end of all of this (not just the Eclipse version of this story, but the end of Breaking Dawn as well) you will be pleasantly surprised, at least I hope so. So don't worry guys!

Thanks as always for all the great reviews and support, I hope you guys realize how important all of you are to me! Till next time!


	21. Chapter 21

Xxx

"What I don't think my colleague is comprehending is that this isn't the first case of homicide with multiple victims, not in this city or this side of the country for that matter! Need I remind you of the Zodiac Killer?"

I groaned and rubbed my temple, I don't know who was more of a prat, this moron or his 'colleague' and why the heck were they comparing this to the zodiac killer? I looked over at my brother and father desperately, but both were focused on the TV.

Jasper and Carlisle had put CNN on and all the newscasters could talk about was Seattle and the murders and disappearances.

I convinced my parents to let me stay home from school, I wasn't really in the mood for classes, granted I wanted to spend as much time with Marie as possible, but today was just full of finals, including our final project for science which was due today, I had already gotten mine in and presentations weren't until Friday so I had plenty of time, I didn't have any other finals until tomorrow.

"I comprehend, Mr. Hastings, but I think we all need to look at the bigger picture. Look at who has gone missing, look at who is turning up dead." The other newscaster argued "are you seriously suggesting that the Zodiac Killer has not only come back, but is roaming around Seattle?"

"Zodiac himself?" Hastings said loudly "no of course not, but a copycat perhaps!"

"A copycat are you mad?!"

My head darted back and forth between the two morons and I couldn't take anymore, I clutched my head and groaned

"Oh, please, for the sake of my sanity and all that is intelligent in this house, shut them off please guys I'm begging you please! I can feel my IQ dropping by the second. They're making Fox news look like candidates for Mensa!" I finally spoke up looking at my brother and father pleadingly.

"One minute Chris," Carlisle said not taking his eyes off the TV.

"Oh brother…" I muttered, "dad, they're idiots please, please before we all join their stupidity."

Jasper reached over and covered my mouth

"Shh!" he whispered and I growled around his hand.

By the time Edward and Bella came into the house an hour later, Esme had joined us. Alice was watching from the bottom step, she was ticked off at something in her vision and as much as I wanted to know what was on my sister's mind, the idiots on the TV were annoying me too much.

Emmett walked in at the same time as Edward and Bella, he was grinning at my annoyed face, he knew exactly what was bothering me and was kind of amused by it.

"Hey Edward. Ditching, Bella?" Emmett asked grinning

"We both are," Edward said and nodded at me "as is he."

Emmett burst out laughing.

"Yes, but it's _her_ first time through high school. She might miss something."

Edward rolled his eyes at Emmett and tossed the paper to Carlisle.

"Did you see that they're considering a serial killer now?" he asked

Carlisle sighed

"they've had two specialists debating that possibility on CNN all morning." He explained

I looked over at my father and shook my head

"And I repeat my earlier statement both of them are moronic prats, specialists my butt, they are bloody id-."

"Christian." Esme warned, I shrugged

"It's true" I replied I wasn't going to apologize this time. She rolled her eyes at me and decided to let it go.

"We cant let this go on." Edward continued, clearly ignoring me, when he glanced over at me I looked at him cross-eyed, slightly immature but well deserved.

"Let's go now," Emmett said hopeful. "I'm dead bored."

"YES!" I exclaimed, getting to my feet, anything to get away from dumb and dumber on the TV, I usually have a lot of respect for CNN and it's reporters, but I was really fed up with these two.

Upstairs Rosalie hissed, I'm pretty sure it was directed at both Emmett and I.

"She's such a pessimist." Emmett muttered

"We'll have to go sometime." Edward agreed

"The sooner the better, it's getting dangerously close to exposing our kind." I added, reminding everyone something that really didn't need reminding. I couldn't help but wincing as Rosalie appeared at the top of the stairs. She descended slowly, her face was smooth and expressionless.

Carlisle looked at me and shook his head.

"I'm concerned. We've never involved ourselves in this kind of thing before. It's not our business. We aren't the Volturi"

"But we've never had something this big happen so close to us." I pointed out "we've never been in this kind of predicament before." It was true, this was all new to us.

"I don't want the Volturi to have to come here," Edward said "It gives us so much less reaction time."

"And all those innocent humans in Seattle," Esme murmured. "It's not right to let them die this way."

"I know," Carlisle sighed.

"Oh," Edward spoke up and I immediately looked over at him as he looked at Jasper, apparently Jasper was finally letting Edward in on what most of us already knew and had done a good job keeping from him, what we were truly dealing with in Seattle. "I didn't think of that. I see. You're right that has to be it. Well, that changes everything."

I looked over at Edward again and this time he looked back at me, I allowed my mind to let him in, gave him my profile, what Jasper and I had experienced in Seattle, stuff we probably shouldn't have kept from him. I felt Jasper look at me too, both of us sharing a thought that the others minus Edward couldn't see. I could read his body language, he was going to tell Bella his story, tell her how he knew what we were dealing with and how to combat them.

If my telling my sob story had been a big step for me, then the step Jasper was about to take was equal to Neil Armstrong's on the moon. Jasper likes to stay in the back ground, kind of like me, but his story was necessary if Bella was to understand why we were all so nervous about Seattle.

As Jasper began his story I leaned back into the couch, happy for the distraction from the idiots on CNN.

* * *

xxx

"An army," Alice spoke up pulling me out of my daydream, Jasper had concluded his story and what Alice was talking wasn't in the past. "Why didn't you tell me?" that last part wasn't directed right at Jasper, but at me too, I hadn't been really paying attention so I allowed my ability to do a quick catch up.

Jasper looked at me carefully and sighed

"I thought Chris and I were interpreting the signs incorrectly. Because where is the motive? Why would someone create an army in Seattle? There is no history there, no vendetta. It makes no sense from a conquest standpoint, either; no one claims it. Nomads pass through, but there's no one to fight for it. No one to defend it from. But I've seen this before, and there's not other explanation. Chris you thought so as well but we didn't believe it."

I nodded, knowing exactly where Jasper as going with this

"We didn't believe it because you're right Jas, it makes no sense." I added

"What doesn't make any sense?" Bella asked clearly confused by this discussion, which was fair.

"There is an army of newborn vampires in Seattle." Jasper explained gently

"Fewer than twenty, but growing more populous by the day." I spoke up remembering Jasper and I's encounter and how many different beings I sensed and smelled.

"The difficult part is for the most part they are totally untrained," Jasper continued nodding at me "Whoever made them just set them loose. It will only get worse and it won't be much longer until the Volturi step in. Actually I'm surprised they've let this go on so long."

Now it was my turn to make a face, I hated the idea of those dictators coming anywhere near Washington, for so many different reasons.

"What can we do?" Carlisle asked, I could hear the fear in my father's voice, he still holds out on his friendship with the Volturi, but he is not naïve to their cruelty or their constant need for power and control.

"If we want to avoid the Volturi's involvement, we will have to destroy the newborns, and we will have to do it very soon."

Carlisle's face dropped, to protect our family and protect the humans in our area he would agree to this, but it pained him to agree to take a life any life. It's just who my father is. I took a deep breath as the conversation continued between Jasper and Edward, with Esme speaking up briefly and Alice giving her opinion.

While this occurred I went over to where Carlisle sat opposite the TV, the set turned off and forgotten about, he looked so torn over this decision and I knew if we did go to Seattle, Carlisle would struggle with the trip, taking a life went against everything he stands for, both as a doctor and who he is. I put a hand on his shoulder and he looked up quickly, nodding thanks for my gesture.

Then Edward said something that brought all of us back to attention, when he mentioned the Volturi and the possibility of them being behind the newborns.

"Why?" Carlisle asked, still shocked. "There's no reason for the Volturi-"

"It was there," Edward said softly, he looked right at me and I closed my eyes, sighing. "I'm surprised it's come to this so soon, because the other thoughts were stronger. In Aro's head he saw me at one side, Alice at his other, and Chris standing alongside Jane and Alec,"

This was not the first time I've heard that, Edward and I have discussed it before and it scares the hell out of me every time, so I couldn't help but wince, Esme saw my reaction and moved closer to me and Carlisle, she reached over and held out her arm, hugging me tight.

"Shh, Chris it's okay." She whispered "it will never happen."

"The present, the future, and the past, virtual omniscience." Edward continued "The power of the idea intoxicated him. I would have thought it would take him much longer to give up on that plan…he wanted it to much. But there was also the thought of you, Carlisle, of our family, growing stronger and larger. The jealously and the fear. You having…not more than he had, but still, things that he wanted. He tries not to think about it, but he couldn't hide it completely. The idea of rooting out the competition was there; besides their own, ours is the largest coven they've ever found…"

Bella looked at Edward in shock and I knew instantly that he never told her what he saw in Aro's mind.

"They're too committed to their mission. They would never break the rules themselves. It goes against everything they've worked for." Carlisle spoke up, arguing gently with Edward,

I took a deep breath, I needed to be careful with my words on this one, I love my father and my respect for him has never wavered, I never want to offend him, but he was being blinded by his friendship with Aro, he didn't want to see what Edward, Alice, and I already know about our Italian Rulers.

"Control Carlisle that is what they've worked for." I started "Our coven existing is beyond their control. You discovered animal blood to maintain humanity not the Volturi, you left the Volturi declining the chance to maintain their ways. In Aro's mind this is like saying 'we don't need the Volturi'. Without meaning to Carlisle our family's existence is in itself an act of rebellion. We do everything that our kind especially those in Volterra, do not. We co-exist with humans, we see them as friends not food if it weren't for certain aspects we exist more as humans than the Volturi could ever hope to. Their afraid our way of life will appeal to more covens and they will really lose the control and fear they have insisted upon." I paused

"Chris," Carlisle started and I shook my head, begging him silently to let me finish.

"And if that means getting rid of us to maintain that control they will do it. Who would question them? You have friends all over the world Carlisle, but none of them are large enough to oppose the Volturi, none of them have enough of an issue with the Volturi to stand against them, even if it means defending a friend. The only ones who would stand with us against the Volturi is the Denali clan. They have the numbers to stand with us, and they are in as much danger as we are, guilt by association, their family may not be as large as ours or hold as many of abilities that we do, but they do defy the Volturi's idea of the "correct" way of living. Eleazar realizes this. He's in the same situation as you are Carlisle. You left the way the Volturi believe is correct for a different way of life and so did he. The only reason we seem to be stuck on Aro's radar is because of our sheer size and times he has had a member of this family turn down his offer to join the guard on a permanent basis. Your leaving was the first, my refusal to stay the first time he offered was the second," I looked over at Edward and Alice "and more recently, Edward's desire to destroy himself as opposed to joining the guard"

"Which wasn't the reason" Edward interrupted

I shot him a look, he can read my mind, he should know better then that, for crying out loud he's seen the inside of Aro's mind.

"Do you think Aro really cares about the reason, Edward? He cares only for the fact that when you were offered the chance to join the guard something Aro believes all of our kind strive and want, but only few will ever be offered, you willingly attempted to reveal yourself to humans, choosing death over enlistment. He may be able to see the love you feel for Bella and had seen the pain at the thought that she was dead, but he doesn't feel those emotions anymore he couldn't understand them so he related your actions to just not wanting to join the guard. You need to remember that when it involves the Volturi, it all revolves around them, its all about them and no one else, they have the worst case of narcissism in the world." I paused again "the final time, the tipping point you can say was both Alice and Edward's outright refusal to join when asked."

"Chris are you sure?" Emmett asked,

I sighed, really regretting my profile at the moment, but still I nodded

"Aro is both jealous and dismayed by our family…and by our unwavering loyalty to Carlisle and to family."

"They will clean up afterwards. A double betrayal." Edward added, accepting my profile "no harm done."

Jasper leaned forward, shaking his head, I knew he wasn't disagreeing with me, but he wasn't completely agreeing with Edward's belief that the Volturi were involved. To be frank I didn't think they were either, it wasn't their style, Aro liked to make a show of things, he'd want to make a point and use us the martyrs. None of the Volturi, at least the ones I know would use a band of newborns as their pawns, not like this.

"No Carlisle is right. The Volturi do not break rules. Besides, it's much to sloppy. This…person, this threat…they have no idea what they're doing. A first-timer, I'd swear to it. I cannot believe the Volturi are involved." He looked over at me "but Chris is right on his profile, they will be. They will see this as an opportunity."

"A fight is what the Volturi is hoping for…they are hoping that we will be destroyed by the newborns and then the Volturi will step in to destroy the newborns. That's why they are holding back. They know we will not allow this to go much longer, it puts us in danger and it puts us at risk for a visit from the Volturi." I explained looking at Jasper who nodded. "they're hoping we make the first move."

Everyone exchanged worried looks, and I felt sick to my stomach at this whole thing, I couldn't believe it had taken me this long to realize what the hell was going on and I was a little ashamed of myself.

"Then let's go," Emmett said loudly grinning wide, clearly nothing was going to bother Em on this one. "What are we waiting for?"

Carlisle and Edward exchanged a long glance, before looking at me. I couldn't help it, I lowered my head, still ashamed at the profile I had to give. I wish I had better control over it, but that was the profile I got, that was how the pieces got sorted and believe me I wish I could change it.

"We'll need you to teach us, Jasper." Carlisle finally said. "How to destroy them." I hated seeing that look on my father's face, he looked so defeated so pained at the thought of killing the newborns.

As if the conversation couldn't go any further to hell, it did, when Carlisle called the Denali clan to ask for their help, just in case we needed back up, Tanya agreed with one requirement, permission to take down the wolf pack.

We were all shocked by that, then I remembered a few months before, when I was in Alaska right before Charlie died. The spark I had seen between Irina and the nomad Laurent, it may have been one sided, but it was there. Irina not only had feelings for Laurent, but I could only imagine how she must have felt finding out that a pack of werewolves had been his downfall.

No amount of explaining on Carlisle's part could change Tanya's mind and I could practically see Irina seething up in Alaska, in pain and very angry.

Of course Bella was concerned and rightly so, she knew there was something of a treaty between us and the wolves, but she was obviously concerned that family ties with the Denali clan would override any treaty set with the Quileute's. But we would not betray the wolves, they had done the right thing in destroying Laurent, their action had saved Bella's life and that was what mattered.

When Carlisle snapped the phone closed, he moved to the window, not speaking to any of us, all of us except for Bella of course had heard the conversation nearly in its entirety and what Tanya wanted in exchange for their help. Esme moved to her husband's side resting her arm on his shoulder, both of them staring out.

"What's the problem?" Emmett asked Edward, gesturing to our parents

"Irina was more involved with our friend Laurent than we knew." Edward explained, he looked at me and my mind drifted back to when I knew that fact, when he was still searching the world looking for Victoria. I winced and lowered my eyes, great something else that I should have mentioned that I didn't. Edward shook his head at me, telling me not to blame myself, but that ship had set sail. "She's holding a grudge against the wolves for destroying him to save Bella. She wants…" he paused looking at Bella cautiously

Bella looked right back at him

"Go on," she said, before glancing at me, I could see the confusion on her face when I avoided eye contact with her.

"she wants revenge. To take down the pack. They would trade their help for our permission."

"No!" Bella gasped

I was standing close enough to her that when her hands went flying to her mouth she nearly hit me. But I didn't care about that, I put a cautious hand on her shoulder and she looked at me thankful.

"Don't worry Bella," I explained "the pack is in no danger from us or the Denali clan, we wont let anything happen to them like that."

"He's right, Carlisle would never agree to it," Edward added, he hesitated, then sighed growling "Nor would I. Laurent had it coming, and I still owe the wolves for that."

"This isn't good," Jasper reminded us. "it's too even a fight. We'd have the upper hand in skill and abilities, but not in numbers. We'd win, but at what price?" he looked over at Alice, then at me.

Even Emmett had sobered up a little, we were in big trouble that was certain. If it wasn't from the Volturi coming to destroy the Newborns, it was the Newborns launching an army to attack us. Great, just great.

xxx

A/N: I apologize for the shortness of this chapter and the fact it had a lot from the actual book. I try to avoid it as much as possible, but this was unavoidable. I'm also sorry it took me so long to update. I meant to have it updated this past Friday the 5th, because I was going to be away from my computer for a while, but sadly I couldnt get it written in time. The next chapter will be uploaded next week, either Tuesday or Wed. and it is something I know a lot of you are looking forward to. The Freshman/Sophomore Dance. I'll say it for that chapter too, but I have to give a shout to Nan who helped me write that chapter when I got really stuck. But that chapter will be coming shortly, but for now I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Till next time!


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Word of warning this is an EXTREMELY long chapter, but I owe a big huge thank you to Nan, who helped me fill in some missing pieces to the last half of the chapter. I was stuck and she was wonderful enough to help me out. I normally hate putting these things at the beginning, but I felt the warning was due, there will be another note at the end, please take the time to read it.

This is the chapter a lot of you have been looking forward too, the dance! Enjoy!

* * *

xxx

The afternoon of the dance Rose allowed me to do something I never thought she would, especially since it WAS the afternoon of the dance, Rose let me work on her car with her. Emmett was acting as the jack, he usually does when neither of us feel like putting the car on the lifts, he's just so much more convenient.

The Beemer just needed a tune up and it's brake pads replaced. Not a particularly lengthy or mentally stimulating job, but still it was fun to be allowed under the Beemer with a wrench.

A tune up is all Rose really trusts me with when it comes to her car. Granted both of us are the car mechanics of the family, we trust each other with all other vehicles in our family and work pretty much in sync around cars. But even still we tend to end up on opposite sides of particular argument that has been going on literally since 1970. It's a matter of which brand of oil is best use.

Rose prefers one brand I prefer another and neither of us will budge on it. No one else in the family understands this argument and I think if Edward had his way he'd just buy the most expensive brand for his Volvo without ever once considering the damage it could be doing to his already stupid car.

Once we had the oil taken care of, Emmett willing sat down next to the Jeep and lifted it up off the garage floor. The lifts that Rose and I usually use when the both of us need to be under the car was broken, broken by a certain brother that shall remain unnamed…'cough' Edward 'cough'…who tried to do some repair work on his own car by himself and promptly screwed up the lift as well as blew out part of his engine. Reports are still filing in on exactly how said brother managed both feats.

Anyways Emmett is always willing to fill in for the lift or a jack when we need him too and this time was no different. Emmett had blown out part of the gas tank on the Jeep when him and Jasper took it off roading a few weeks ago. I've been telling him for months to not take it down that particular trail until I redo the under-carriage of the Jeep, but does he listen to me? No, of course not, why listen to the licensed mechanic that gives you free car repair.

Rose was under the Jeep and I was shifting through the toolbox looking for my favorite torque wrench, when I heard Edward's car pulling up the driveway, followed by two car door slams. I didn't look up until I felt Emmett nudging me in the ribs.

I looked over at him, then at Bella who was cradling her hand to her chest. I could see how swollen it looked and my eyes went wide, concerned that she had seriously hurt herself, somehow. Even Bella has admitted she's not the world's most graceful human being.

"Fall down again Bella?" Emmett asked seriously, even though the grin on his face was the complete opposite.

Bella's response was frightening as she glared at the both of us fiercely. I couldn't help it, I had to go with it and pretended to jump back away from her in fear.

"Blimey…she did it, she's finally mastered Rosalie's ultimate weapon, the sudden glare of death! You taught her well Rose!" I exclaimed, keeping my tone serious "I knew you'd influence her somehow, I wonder if Alice's fashion insanity is catchy."

"Shut up Christian." Rosalie hissed at me and I rolled my eyes

"Well did you?" Emmett repeated his question

"No Emmett. I punched a werewolf in the face." Bella explained, still glaring as if she was daring us to laugh at that, not entirely sure why she was bothering, she knows Emmett and I well enough to know that certain things we find hilarious and seriously that was one of them.

Emmett blinked, we exchanged one more look quickly and then burst into identical roaring laughter.

Edward glared at us and started to lead Bella towards the house, where I'm assuming she wanted Carlisle to examine her hand.

"Jasper's going to win that bet," Rose spoke up smugly.

Emmett stopped laughing at once and looked at Bella carefully, he looked over at me silently asking for my profile. I rolled my eyes and looked at Bella.

A few weeks ago Emmett and Jasper placed a bet, one that they were keeping from Carlisle and Esme of course and certainly trying to keep from Bella, the latter mainly at Edward's insistence. Jasper was betting in pretty top form that Bella would slip up at least a few dozen times in her first year, which was a pretty fair assumption coming from Jasper, he hates being the so called weak willed one in the family and won't listen to reason that he's not.

Emmett on the other hand has bet only a dozen times and I'm not entirely sure where he was pulling that number out of.

Of course no Cullen Boys bet would be complete if I didn't get dragged into it, but my brothers were taken aback by my prediction and refused to let it go, making fun of me about it every chance they got, it's something I don't expect to see the end of anytime soon..

I've got a pretty solid profile of Bella, I've got faith in her ability when she does become one of us. I don't think she'll slip up at all, I think she's going to be tempted and have a few close calls, but I do not believe she will actually go through with taking a human life, even as a brand new newborn. I

"What Bet?" Bella asked angrily

"Let's get you to Carlisle," Edward replied pushing her gently towards the house and away from us. He's determined to keep the bet from Bella, but there's only so much he can keep from her, we've all learned that in the past with her, she doesn't let things go very easily.

"Thanks Rosalie," Edward muttered and Rose smiled as she went back under the car, I rolled my eyes, and they call me the instigator.

Even though they had moved into the house I could still hear Edward and Bella talking as we listened to the conversation

"Edward…" Bella grumbled

"It's infantile," Edward explained carefully. "Emmett and Jasper like to gamble and Chris likes to use his ability to instigate."

Emmett grinned and nudged me again

"Such a bad influence on us Chris," he said

"Me a bad influence on you two, to quote the really obnoxious part of this generation 'as if'

"I think you've been hanging around your current peers to long Dr. Doolittle you're starting to talk like them."

I rolled my eyes as the conversation continued

"Emmett and Chris will tell me." Bella said and Em and I grinned again, yes we would, we would gladly tell Bella, at least what we were betting, not Jasper's side so much.

Edward sighed,

"They're betting on how many times you…slip up the first year."

"Oh." I could hear the horror in Bella's voice and I winced a little as she continued "They have a bet on how many people I'll kill?"

"Yes." Edward said carefully "Chris is betting that you'll nearly slip but you wont go through with it. He hasn't heard the end of it from Emmett or Jasper because they think that he's using his ability to profile you and it's not accurate this far in advance. But if it makes you feel better he's betting on his trust in you. But Rosalie thinks that your temper will turn the odds in Jasper's favor."

"Jasper's betting high?" Bella asked, Edward was definitely hesitating at this point and seriously who could blame him.

"It will make him feel better if you have a hard time adjusting. He's tired of being the weakest link."

"Well that went, what's the term you Brits use…swimmingly?" Emmett said carefully moving the Jeep to his other hand.

"Oh yeah right,"

Now Rose pulled herself out from under the Jeep, she wiped her hands on a towel and looked at me

"Chris, you might want to go get ready, arent you guys leaving in a couple of hours?"

I glanced at my watch and winced

"Crap, you're right." And with that I bolted into the house.

Xxx

I tried for what seemed like the hundredth time to get my bowtie straight, it wasn't cooperating though. It was the last part of my suit and was turning into the most difficult part ironically.

"Bloody, bloody, hell." I grumbled staring at my reflection in the mirror. "This shouldn't be this difficult,"

"Kid, what the heck is all the grumbling I'm hearing? I could hear you all the way downstairs over a ten car pileup on the speed channel" Emmett said from my doorway. I didn't mean to growl at my brother, but it certainly came out as one, he pretended to jump back in fear and I rolled my eyes at him. "Oh, beware, the Brit's got attitude."

"Shuddup Em," I replied "I cant get this stupid tie right, my stupid hair won't stay down, I look ridiculous."

Emmett looked at me with a sympathetic look on his face, he came into my room and was clearly trying not to laugh.

"Kid are you a little nervous for tonight?" he asked somewhat serious

"No, of course not that's ridicu-" I paused and sat down on my computer chair hard, so hard it nearly flipped over, Emmett reached over and steadied it so it didn't flip.

Carlisle poked his head in, either he heard my complaining as well or he heard the chair nearly flipping over.

"Christian are you okay son?"

"He's nervous for tonight." Emmett explained

"Em!" I exclaimed

"Just telling it like it is,"

"Chris, why are you so nervous?" Carlisle asked

"I'm not,"

"Chris, I think at this point in life I know when you're lying."

I looked at Emmett, then at Carlisle

"This is it…" I said softly

Carlisle and Emmett exchanged a look, both my father and brother were clearly confused, and a little concerned too.

"Er, Chris?" Em asked

"This is Marie's last real school related event with us. This and then the graduation party Alice is planning…after that she's moving to Massachusetts." I paused "I just want tonight to go off without a hitch. But…but what if I'm the hitch? I don't dance, I cant get my hair to stay down, I can't even tie the stupid bowtie. I'm going to ruin tonight for everyone I can see it."

Now Carlisle saw why Emmett was trying not to laugh, apparently my fears were completely unfounded, but in all reality they were typical worries of a regular teenager, why I was feeling them was mind blowing.

"Okay, Chris let's take care of at least one part I can help you with." Carlisle said, he gestured for me to stand up and he fixed my bowtie making sure it was straight. He guided me to the mirror and held out his hand. "Well?"

"Thanks dad," I said nodding "that's better."

I tried pushing my hair down, my bangs are pretty long, when I was human my mum wanted to cut them, insisting on it in the weeks that led up to my 'death' I wouldn't let her. I liked my long bangs and by long I mean they're just at my eye line.

Usually what I do is push it back or when I haven't hunted in a while and my eyes are getting darker, I use my bangs to hide behind. But for some reason after my shower my bangs were sticking up in different directions and were refusing to go down, no matter what I did.

"Sheesh kid, whatcha do sleep in a wind tunnel?" Emmett asked snorting, I glared at him a little and sighed, he was just trying to make me feel better by making me laugh. "Hold on, I think I've got an idea."

I looked at Carlisle as Emmett darted out of my room and my father shrugged, chuckling.

"You're going to have such a great time tonight Chris." Carlisle said while we waited, "I'm glad you're going,"

"It's just a dance dad," I said smoothing out my vest as Carlisle helped me put my jacket suit on.

"Technically it's your first school dance, mom and I are very proud that you're going tonight. And I know it means a lot to you and your friends that you guys are going tonight."

"Right," I replied grinning at my dad

"I'm also proud of you on another front too."

"What's that?" I asked, Carlisle put his hand on my shoulder and guided me out of my room, down the stairs, to the second floor landing, we can see into the family room from there and I saw exactly what my father was talking about.

Esme was there, Rosalie and Alice were helping her fix her hair and get ready. My mother looked so beautiful and so happy.

When I looked at Carlisle he had this love struck puppy look on his face, I grinned and chuckled at my father and he gave me a look that just had me laughing harder. But there was no denying how much this dance meant to my mother.

"Esme is so happy to be able to chaperon the dance tonight," Carlisle explained, but it was really one of those no explanation necessary.

"Psst Chris," Emmett whispered from down the hall, he gestured for me to come down to his room and Carlisle followed. Emmett had a canister of hair gel in hand and a wide grin on his face. He pulled my hand out and squirted a tiny bit into my palm "give that a try." Willing to try anything at this point I ran my hands through my hair and smoothed it. "There ya go," Em replied, he pulled me into the bathroom he shares with Rosalie (like Alice's bathroom it's a place I try to avoid) and positioned me in front of Rosalie's full length mirror.

"Looks good Chris, very stylish." Carlisle said nodding his approval

"Kid you are going to kill tonight," Emmett exclaimed and Carlisle coughed a little rolling his eyes. "Okay, bad phrase."

"Chris, come on we need to head over to the Burke's and meet the limo." Esme called from down stairs

"Exactly Chris, get down here now!" Alice added, I looked at my brother and father and we all shrugged, and we headed downstairs.

"Oh my god Chris look at you!" Rosalie and Alice exclaimed in unison

"Sweetie you look so handsome." Esme cooed, she hugged me gently and smoothed out my suit a little

"Oh Chris," Bella sighed from the couch, where she was cradling her hand from her werewolf punching incident earlier.

"Chris stand with Esme and Carlisle I want a picture." Alice exclaimed, she took Carlisle's hand and pulled him over to the fireplace and then dragged me over, Esme walked over on her own freewill. Both my parents put their hands on my shoulders and we posed like that for the picture. "Chris will you smile?" Alice grumbled which was not like my sister, but I wasn't going to argue with her, so I smiled.

"We're going to be late," I spoke up carefully,

"Not on my watch." Jasper said from the kitchen doorway. He was driving Esme and I to the Burke's, where I'm assuming there would be more pictures involved, that was also where the limo was picking all of us up. Clearly Esme wanted to get over there before the rest of my friends showed up to get some more pictures of me and Marie.

After the limo picked us up, Jasper was going to drive Esme to the high school to drop her off, he would pick her up after the dance as the limo dropped each of us off at our homes, except me. We didn't want to make the limo driver go all the way to us so he would drop me off at Marie's with her and Jasper would pick me up.

I held my arm out to my mother and she took it in her arm, Alice was snapping pictures left and right as we walked out the front door, Jasper was taking this whole thing to heart, he held the passenger side door of the Aston Martin open for Esme and helped her slide in, I slid into the backseat and rolled down back window.

Rosalie came over and kissed the top of my head gently, making sure not mess my hair up, wishing me luck, Carlisle shook my hand and Emmett made a move to ruffle my hair, but Rosalie hit his hand before he could. He grinned and shrugged, apparently he was only kidding.

"Hey kid don't forget your boutonniere and Marie's corsage!" Edward ran out of the house to the car with the flower and the plastic container with Marie's. I could've hit myself

"shoot, I can't believe I forgot that."

"Just blame the nerves" Bella replied waving "but you're going to be fine,"

Rose reached into the car and carefully pinned the boutonniere to my suit

"Have fun Chris!" everyone called as Jasper put the car into gear and we headed off. I nervously picked at the boutonniere; Esme turned around and tapped my hand gently

"Chris, don't, you'll tear it apart."

"Sorry," I replied, she took my hand and gave it a squeeze, reminding me not to be nervous, but I think she was a little amused that I was so nervous.

When we finally reached Marie's house, Esme let me go to the door first, Jasper gave me a wave and a thumbs up.

I took a deep breath, counted to ten, and rang the doorbell. Mrs. Burke answered it right away, she smiled wide pulling me into a careful hug. Like Esme, she was dressed for the occasion, ready to be a chaperon for the dance.

"Chris you look very handsome."

When Esme came up the stairs behind me, she hugged Esme too. Mr. Burke came over and shook my hand. I heard a creak on the landing and looked up as Marie stood on the stairs looking down at us.

My mouth dropped open in surprise and I couldn't help but grin at my friend, she looked absolutely beautiful and she was bright red, which was an amusing color with her midnight blue dress, it had one strap and she wore a gray silk scarf thing over her shoulders, I think it's called a wrap.

She was even wearing heals, albeit a small heel, but this was Marie not Alice or Rose, she wasn't used to wearing the size heel she had as she carefully came down the steps and walked slowly over to me.

I grinned shyly, held out my hand and took hers gently, bowing low and kissing it, assuming that was what I was supposed to do, I was really hoping that whatever I did tonight, it was not old fashion.

"You look beautiful Marie," I said softly, she giggled at my gesture and turned even brighter red if that was possible.

"So do you…handsome I mean you look handsome." She replied, I looked over at Esme who nodded and I slid the corsage out of the plastic case and handed the case to Esme and slid the corsage carefully onto Marie's wrist.

"Marie was so nervous about tonight," I heard Mrs. Burke whisper to Esme, of course she wouldn't realize I would hear her, Esme, even though she knew I would hear nodded

"Chris was too, they are so adorable together." Esme confided and Mrs. Burke nodded, just as the doorbell rang, the rest of our group slowly making an appearance.

xxx

After the photos had been taken, good lucks had been given we made our way to the limo, each of us guys escorting our dates, helping them into the limo.

"This is so awesome!" Patrick exclaimed, "I've never been in a limo before,"

"Patrick, none of us have," Tisha replied rolling her eyes.

He grinned evilly and opened the moon-roof and stood up on the seat so he was sticking his upper body out of the moon roof.

"Class of 2009 ROCKS, 2006, 7 and 8 Suck!" He shouted as Paul and Steve pulled him back into the limo, we were all laughing at his stupidity.

"Wow," Jenna exclaimed sarcastically "that was the making of a high school sophomore right there, remind me again why we brought him?"

"Comic relief?" I suggested and everyone laughed harder.

By the time we reached the high school, we were all a lot calmer then we had been at the Burke's. I was surprised to find out (profiling at least) that I wasn't the only one nervous about the dance, all of my friends were.

I think the nerves may have been dulled by the crap load of soda everyone in the group minus Kelly who can't have soda and me of course, kicked back. I swear Paul drank at least six cans in the time it took us to get from the Burke's house to the high school.

The gym had been transformed into something out of Grease, well a mix between Grease and any other movie involving a high school dance, but I wasn't really paying attention to it.

Most of our class and the sophomore were already there, some were dancing, a lot were at the food table, well the guys were, most of the girls were sitting around the dance floor chatting.

I could see Anthony and Craig stuffing their faces with cookies while Janet and some of her friends sat at a table, arms crossed, glaring at them.

When we walked in they turned and stared at us, Janet had a smug look on her face, before turning to her friends and whispering.

The music that was playing was fast paced and the few that were on the dance floor were rocking hard to the music, (I think that's the right terminology.) whatever it was, definitely not my style of dancing, then again, I really don't have a style of dance, I don't like dancing, I mean the only dancing I have ever done in my entire life both vampire and pre vampire, was swing, that I can deal with, but I have a feeling that if anyone put on Glenn Miller no one aside from me or Emse would have any idea who the heck was on.

We found two tables that could accommodate all ten of us and we sat down, trying to decide what to do. When the music changed to a slower song, Tisha, Sarah, and Jenna grabbed, Steve, Paul, and Patrick's hands and dragged them out onto the dance floor. Nick and Kelly exchanged a wary look at one another and she followed her friend's lead and grabbed his hand.

Now it was just Marie and I, two of the shyest members of our group of friends, Marie clearly wanted to be out on the floor with our friends, but she didn't want to force me into anything. She's such a great person, always putting other's needs before her own.

How bad could it really be, I took a deep breath and stood up, standing in front of Marie who was looking up at me hopeful, I felt nervous and confident at the same time.

"M'lady," I said softly allowing my accent to return, holding out my hand to her "may I have the pleasure of this dance?"

The grin on Marie's face was priceless as she nodded quickly, taking my hand and allowing me to lead her out onto the dance floor. All our friends were smiling happily.

I never thought it would be so awkward dancing, it's not something I have a lot of experience with as I carefully put my hands on Marie's shoulders and she did the same. We were so stiff as we swayed back and forth to the music. I knew this wasn't how two people should be dancing together, but I had no idea what I was doing and clearly neither did Marie. Everyone else around us seemed comfortable with each other and we were both really out of our element.

I looked around and saw Esme standing off to the side of the gym, she was chatting with Mrs. Burke, and she must have felt me looking at her because she looked up pretty quick. She giggled a little at how Marie and I were dancing and understood my plight instantly.

She nodded and put her hands in the air, pretending that there was someone in front of her, showing me where my hands were supposed to be, I gently moved my hands so they were resting on Marie's hips, a little uncomfortable of course, but I was thankful for Esme's help, Marie adjusted as I did and put her hands on my shoulders again, only she was clearly more comfortable.

The next thing I knew, she leaned forward and rested her head on my shoulder, I could hear her heart beating quickly and though I was stunned at first I accepted her and the pair of us in our own style swayed back and forth, enjoying the dance.

"Thank you," Marie whispered quietly into my shoulder

"For what?" I asked

"For going with me and for being such a wonderful friend, not just to me, but to everyone, you're such a wonderful person."

"I wouldn't say that Marie," I paused giving her a small grin "but if anything it should be me thanking you, I never thought I would ever good friends, I mean really good friends like you guys, I didn't have many in Alaska and when we moved to Forks I just assumed I'd be in the same boat. Then you, of everyone in that classroom that very first day, you came up and introduced yourself and I've never forgotten that and I will never forget that."

Marie's ears went extremely red, and I saw the look in her eyes, not tears like I expected but happiness, I knew what she was going to do and prayed for a second that she would continue not to care about my extremely cold body temperature, she looked over at her mother quickly then kissed my cheek.

It was so quick I don't think Marie was able to register my cold face, instead she ducked her head shyly and laid it back on my shoulder. Not sure what to do at that point, I simply hugged her as gently as I could.

"Thank you," she said and I chuckled as we were apparently going to start this again, but I decided I wasn't going to argue with her.

"It was a pleasure m'lady, you do need to go out with a bang-"

I felt my stomach drop for a second, my ability cluing me into something that was coming. I definitely did not mean a bang literally. I understood what was going on seconds later as I heard voices, angry voices coming from the concession table.

Carefully, without disturbing or moving Marie too much I turned to look. Jenna was standing there, her light pink…dress for lack of a better word Alice would've known the scientific name for that particular outfit, was now stained with blood red punch, dripping down the silk.

From our little bubble, I hadn't noticed that the music had changed to some quick, pop song that our close dancing was not appropriate for. I had also failed to notice that most of our group had left the dance floor and were now starting wide jawed at a very angry, very uncharacteristic Jenna.

Her chest was heaving as she stared at a smirking girl who held had her arms crossed over her chest.

The girl, Denise I think her name is, is a sophomore and about as mean as they come. We really don't have much contact with the sophomore class, but I remember Denise from middle school, when we were in seventh grade and she was in eighth. She made Janet look like Mother Theresa, so that's saying something.

Quickly my mind filled in the pieces at what had happened. Jenna must have gone to get some punch for her and Patrick. Jenna is not as quiet as Sarah and Marie, but she's not bold like Tisha and Kelly either, she's right in the middle of the girls in our group, so she must have stood patiently waiting her turn to get the punch.

Denise, probably on purpose had turned to hand the ladle to Jenna, only it was still full of punch, so when Jenna took it, the punch spilled out of the very large spoon and all down Jenna's dress. She's had it in for certain people in our class, Janet's been on the receiving end of her bullying so has a few other girls in our grade.

We've got such a tight bond and such a strong protective barrier around the girls in our group, Denise hasn't had the opportunity to go after Sarah, Marie, Kelly, Jenna, or Tisha, but apparently Denise took advantage of the dance to make her move.

Standing nearby was her group of friends who started snickering, and when I say friends I probably should put in quotation marks, they're more like her followers, they follow Denise around acting like she's all important and agreeing with her every word because they know the alternative is they will be her target.

"Oh, I apologize," Denise started to say "I think I forgot to pour the punch out, let me make sure it's clean." She held the spoon out and deposited that last few drops on Jenna's head. I could see it in Jenna's eyes, one of two things was going to happen, either she was going to break down in tears or she was going to explode and judging by her body language, the latter was the more probable "that dress is so pretty Jenna, wherever did you get it? The Salvation Army?"

"No way," Marie murmured, dragging me towards the scene, she was pissed and that is something I have never seen with her.

I could also see the tears welling up in Jenna's eyes, even if she was going to attack, she'd be crying when she did it, it wasn't really common knowledge, but rumors in a small town move pretty fast, Jenna's dad had lost his job, along with fifteen other co-workers when the contractor they worked for was arrested for fraud.

So money was really tight with Jenna's family, her mom was working extra hours at the bank to bring in as much money as she could, but they were still struggling. The dress that Jenna was wearing was her older sister's, a hand me down, but Jenna's mom had gotten it altered and pressed just for the dance. So to Jenna it was a brand new dress, that had potentially been ruined by the punch.

I was trying to bypass Marie, hoping to get to the situation before her, I could read Jenna's body language, it wasn't going to take much more for her to snap.

"What's the matter Jenna, can't afford any comebacks? Just going to cry like a little bi-" Yeah Denise never got the chance to finish that sentence as Jenna was on her, just like I'd feared, pulling her to the ground.

"Bloody hell" I hissed as the cat fight erupted on the gym floor. Rolling around, kicking, punching, slapping each other, curses were being thrown back and forth, words I never thought I would ever hear Jenna say.

There was a good ten seconds of this as I stood frozen in shock, before I finally snapped out of it.

"Knock it off! Come on stop! Jenna! Move it will you! Blood hell, get out of my way!" I shouted gently pushing through the crowd of students who were watching, just as dumbfounded, I had to make sure to maintain human speed as I made my way over there.

Steve and Patrick were trying to get there as well, but were being stopped by two more sophomores. Two guys who I can only guess were friends with Denise were blocking them.

Patrick and Steve are bigger than I am, it made sense that the two goons could block them, but I'm small, I'm now smaller than pretty much all of my classmates so I could wiggle in through the crowd and get to where Steve and Patrick couldn't, Paul and Nick were being blocked too, but not for long as Paul who is only a little bit bigger then me, also broke through the crowd as we made our way towards Jenna and Denise.

Jenna was sitting on top of Denise, locking her head between her knees, punching and scratching at her repeatedly.

"Jenna," Marie cried "please stop! Chris get Jenna please! Stop her quick!"

I finally reached the girls and was able to separate them, pulling Jenna back and holding her carefully as Denise's goons swarmed in to help her up.

I felt my throat tighten and I didn't know why, there wasn't any blood, that punch may look like blood but seriously I could smell the sugar in it, it was like Hawaiian Punch or something like that.

Why was my throat clogged, what had my profi….of course this would happen to me, someday I really need to start paying better attention to my profile. I took a deep breath and realized in horror what was going on as the distinct smell of blood wafted through the air into my sensitive nostrils.

"Chris, let go!" Jenna was certainly angry, but there was more then anger in her words, she was crying, crying because I was holding her too tight. Her nose was bleeding and the flow of blood seemed to be coming from me as it dripped onto the gym floor, missing my suit somehow.

I stopped breathing, everything in my being was screaming, my profile was warning me to be careful, my instincts were telling me all was good and just to give in.

Quickly I let Jenna go, she didn't really look concerned that I had hurt her, in fact she wasn't even concerned with Denise, she seemed more worried about my behavior and worried if I was okay, at least that was the idea I got from her look.

Everything around me seemed so surreal, Jenna had neatly scratched Denise's face in a manner that had left four distinct marks on her face. She seemed surprised that Jenna had retaliated and was crying in shock, being comforted by her friends

"Chris, what the hell was that?!" Jenna asked she was still conflicted, a part of her wanted to be angry at me the other part wanted to make sure I was okay because she knows there is no way I would intentionally hurt her, or anyone for that matter.

"Jenna…I'm… sorry I" I looked around, where was Esme? Where was she when all this was going on, she should've been able to stop all of this from happening, stopped me from hurting Jenna.

"What is going on here? What in the….girls? Jenna?" I heard Esme join the group, she must have had trouble getting through the crowd too, thank god she was coming. Mrs. Burke was coming right behind her.

"She started it!" Jenna yelled pointing to her ruined dress, Marie and Sarah were holding her, Marie had grabbed a napkin for her nose and both were comforting her.

"She scratched my face Mrs. Cullen!" Denise screamed back "look at my face! She went psycho because I accidently spilled some punch on her dress!"

"Some?! You did it on purpose!" Jenna shouted she went to lunge at Denise again and Marie, little Marie was able to hold her back.

Esme gasped at the damage Jenna had done, then she looked past Jenna and saw me standing there, holding onto the table for support. My vampire side was definitely not cooperating as the venom pooled in my mouth, the multiple heartbeats resonating throughout my body, I was mere inches from Jenna, I could easily…_no, no this is not me, I am not a killer I am not a killer_.

I could see that Esme was torn too, she wanted to come over and make sure I was okay, but she also had to make sure that Mrs. Burke was all set with the girls.

I hadn't taken a breath in minutes, I still felt overwhelmed, I was fighting my instincts and my instincts were winning, it's happen before, but I've always been able to fight it, but this was different, I was losing this fight, holding onto the table was the only thing that was keeping me grounded.

"Chris?" Marie's voice pulled me back "Chris are you okay?" she was trying to pull me out of my profile, pull me out my focus, redirect it however she could.

I swallowed, took a deep breath, trying to focus on something, anything besides Jenna's bloody nose, Denise's scratch marks…the blood on the gym floor.

"I'm…Um, I'm not good with…blood, I feel kind of sick…I have t-to go get some air, I need." I gulped before swiftly leaving the gym, trying to move slow enough that it didn't appear suspicious, but quick enough that I got as far from the gym as I could.

As soon as I hit the pavement I took a deep breath, allowing the crisp Forks air, currently known as relief to sooth my nostrils. I rubbed my throat and sat down on the curb breathing deeply and counting beats of some of my favorite songs, it always helps and this was no different.

I wondered how long it would be till Marie came looking for me, before Esme did. I knew it wouldn't be long, but I didn't care. I felt horrible at how I reacted in the gym, I could have hurt Jenna, I could have killed her.

I hadn't even realized I was holding her so tight, I thought I was being gently. I put my head in my hands, I felt sick to my stomach and extremely disappointed with myself, I knew how disappointed Esme would be with me, Carlisle, my sisters, and brothers. I had screwed up just like I feared.

I heard the sound of boots on pavement and fought the urge to look up, whoever it was I didn't want to talk to them.

"Chris?" despite not wanting to look up I did, that was Jasper's voice, "Chris are you okay?"

I shook my head and my brother sat down next to me, he could feel my emotions he knew something had happened, he started to calm my emotions but then stopped.

"Jaz I really screwed up," I admitted

"What do you mean?"

I didn't answer for a second or too, then told Jasper everything that had happened in the gym, dancing with Marie, the fight we had witnessed between Jenna and Denise, and my reaction to try and help my friend, which ended up me hurting her.

"Chris, none of that was your fault, it sounds like it was completely out of your control. Not to mention you're out here, you knew it was a dangerous situation for you and came out. That's nothing to be ashamed of, you should be proud of yourself."

"But Jenna, I was holding her so tight; afraid she'd attack Denise again and get into more trouble that I was actually hurting her. I knew this whole thing was a big mistake, I'm such an idiot."

I could feel Jasper rolling his eyes at me, just as I heard the doors to the school opening and heard the clicking of heels on the pavement, heels belonging to someone who wasn't used to walking in them.

"If you couldn't guess, Marie is coming to talk to you, she's worried Chris, not mad at all, she's just concerned."

"Right,"

Jasper patted my shoulder and walked off to the car where he was waiting to pick Esme up later on.

"Chris, are you okay?" Marie asked coming up behind me "everyone's worried about you."

I took a deep breath and stood up to face Marie,

"Hey, sorry, I…get kind of weirded out by blood, makes me really nervous." I explained, it wasn't an outright lie, it just wasn't the whole truth. "is Jenna okay?"

"Her and Denise are in pretty big trouble, the vice principal is inside talking to both of them, their parents are getting called." Marie replied, tears running down her face "we all told the grownups what happened, they'll probably take that into account because Janet and Craig even backed Jenna up."

"Really?" I asked, unable to keep the surprise out of my voice

"I was surprised too, but hopefully it'll be okay."

"I'm so sorry about what happened,"

"What do you mean? It wasn't your fault you tried to break it up,"

"I told you I get kind of weirded out by blood, when I was holding Jenna I tightened my grip when I saw the blood, I was holding her too tight I hurt her."

Marie put her hand on my arm and shook her head

"Chris you didn't hurt her, if you hadn't held her as tight as you did she might have gone after Denise again, she'd be in more trouble then she already is."

"Are you sure?" I asked, truth be told I didn't believe Marie, I was afraid she was just trying to be nice.

"Very sure, she was more worried about you. We all are, your mom is too. Come on," she took my hand and gently pulled me back into the dance, I didn't fight her.

xxx

A/N: I wanted to ask everyone to take a moment to think about the now 200 or so people who were injured today April 15th when two bombs detonated at the 117th running of the Boston Marathon in Boston Massachusetts. Three people including an eight year old are confirmed dead. The bombs detonated in the stands near the finish line of the marathon. I am from New England and this incident hits very close to home, the runners that were coming across the finish line when the bombs went off were not the elite runners, they were regular people who were running for many different reasons including to raise money for charities, those who were in the stands were their families and friends there to cheer them as they ran the nations oldest and one of the grueling marathons in this country. Thank you guys for taking the time to read this part.

I hope to have the next chapter up by next Monday. Till then, thank you again.


	23. Chapter 23

xxx

The rest of the party progressed surprisingly as if nothing had happened. Of course those of us who were involved in the fight, either directly or indirectly, it wasn't the same for us. Denise's friends didn't seem to have the same party spirit they'd had before, but to be frank neither did we.

Jenna and Denise of course were led to the principal's office to wait for their parents, I knew Jenna would be facing punishment, but I had the feeling she'd get off pretty easy. This was her first offense, she wasn't a troublemaker at all, her grades were near AP level and with so many witnesses backing her up, I was pretty sure all this was going to work in her favor.

Esme, Mrs. Burke, and the other chaperones did their best to return the dance to a party atmosphere, and like I said, it worked for most of the student body. Our group definitely lost our party spirit and met back together at our tables.

Marie was shaking so bad from the fight, I had to check on her a couple of times to make sure she was just shaking and not having a seizure.

The girls all began talking about the fight, Patrick looked so lost, he wasn't participating in the conversation, even when it spilled out to include the other guys.

"Pat, let's go get everyone some soda okay?" I asked elbowing him gently, clearly he needed to get away from the discussion, but wasn't sure how to go about it. He nodded, silently thanking me for giving him an out and followed me back to the concession table where the whole mess started. Between the two of us we managed to balance everyone's soda cans. Alice would've killed me if she saw it, but I used my jacket to carry the pile of cans.

"Chris," Patrick said softly as he put the last can in my jacket. Esme was watching from near the food table, she was clearly pretending not to see the whole cans in my jacket thing.

"Yeah?"

"thanks for trying to help Jenna."

"I wish I could've done more, like stop her before it got out of control."

Patrick chuckled a little

"Dude you're not psychic, no one could've predicted that Jenna would go Undertaker on Denise."

I coughed a little suppressing my sarcastic laugh, I should've listened to my profile, I should've been able to predict that Jenna was going to get into trouble and done all I could to prevent it. Besides, Patrick's comment was amusing, of sorts. If only my friend really knew what kind of ability I had to predict that.

xxx

For us, the dance couldn't end quickly enough. The rest of the freshman and sophomore class seemed to just move on from the fight. Fights happen, why dwell on them, sure they're cool to watch when they first happen and sure it'll probably be hallway talk for the next week, maybe even the rest of the year, but no one cared right now, except us.

We tried to have a good time, all of us did. Once Patrick and I returned with the sodas, Kelly and Sarah wanted to back out on the dance floor, I know we were all trying to put it behind us, the girls most of all.

So us guys did our part and allowed ourselves to be dragged out onto the dance floor. Marie was clearly still upset about Jenna, so instead of anything fancy like we had been doing before the fight, she just put her head on my shoulder and rested it there as we swayed back and forth to the music.

When it finally ended, the limo driver took each one of our friends home, before heading to Marie's house. Jasper was waiting there for us. He would bring me back to the school so we could pick Esme up, where her, the rest of the chaperones, and some of the volunteers had stayed behind to clean up. Jaz was just waiting for us to arrive. Marie held my hand the entire ride, none of us spoke except for saying night to our friends as they were each dropped off.

I walked Marie to her front door as the limo driver left. She was still visibly upset by the event at the dance and I knew there was nothing I could do or say to change that.

"Chris," Marie finally said as we reached her door

"Yeah?"

"Thank you again,"

"For what?"

"For going to the dance with me, for being such a great friend." She paused and smiled "for just being you."

I smiled for the first real time in hours and nodded

"Ditto really doesn't cover it Marie, but I feel the same way and want to thank you for all the same things." I took a deep breath and even though I know my brother was watching, even though I knew Marie's dad e other side of the door and was probably watching from the window. I leaned over and gently kissed Marie on the cheek. She blushed and kissed my cheek too, before darting into the house giggling.

When I slid into the Mercedes Jasper had this Emmett like grin on his face, IE gooberish, I rolled my eyes at him and he just grinned wider.

"Chris," he started to say and I shook my head,

"Not a word Jaz, not a word."

"Was just going to comment on the beautiful night." He replied mischievously.

Xxx

"Whoa Dr. Doolittle, look at this place!" Emmett exclaimed from the doorway to the loft. A few weeks ago I started cleaning the loft space above the garage, it's connected to the house, but since we keep Jasper's forgery equipment and some of Carlisle's medical supplies up there, we don't use the hallway connecting it to the loft over the garage.

It's a huge space and once I cleaned out the entrance from the garage, it proved to be the perfect, erm, bachelor pad and it was going to be perfect for the party away from the graduation party that I was throwing up here, a celebration for my friends congratulating ourselves on surviving our first year at high school and toasting to becoming sophomores.

Since the dance and the half a week of school I had been doing all I could to find time to spend with Marie, tonight's graduation party was going to be the last big event our small group of friends would have together and I wanted it to not only go off without a hitch (unlike the stupid dance) but also a real chance to say goodbye to one of my best friends…and possibly…the rest of them.

This party was going to be the deciding factor if I would return to Forks High in the fall, alone without my siblings. The last time we had tried to pull it off, had been disastrous, Esme and my sisters did all they could to make me look older than fourteen, but I ended up looking like a little kid trying to wear his older brother's clothes. My overall size and of course my voice, well they don't play well into the fifteen going on sixteen mentality that comes with being a sophomore in high school.

But I was so close with my friends here in Forks I wasn't ready to give them up yet, yeah it's selfish of me and in all fairness considering what things will probably look like in my family in a few weeks, Bella becoming one of us, keeping her as a newborn vampire away from her father, friends, etc, it would normally be in everyone's best interest if we moved on, but again, I wasn't ready to say goodbye just yet.

So, tonight before the guests arrive, my sisters and mother are going to style my hair, I'm going to wear more mature looking clothes as opposed to my usual attire, I'm going to stand up as straight as possible and try to look older. Then all night I'm going to be profiling my friends, seeing if they notice the difference, if they don't then we have achieved subtly and I might be able to pull this off in the fall.

I'll stay off everyone's radar all summer long, talk on the phone and email if need be, but no hanging out, no get together, I'll pretend I'm off somewhere, maybe I'm off in Scotland or up in Alaska, somewhere.

Then when the first day of school hits I'll try my new look, I'll act as though I am fifteen going on sixteen, maybe I'll even let the girls put something in my sneakers to make me look a little taller. I'll pretend I had a growth spurt over the summer.

All of this though, depends on how my friends interpret me tonight, I have to make sure I'll be able to pull it off tonight, if I can't do it for a couple of hours, then I know I'll never be able to do it for 180 school days.

If that ends up being the case I'll gracefully accept it and move on with my family. I knew this was the sort of thing that could happen by making friends, it sucks, but I just got to deal with it. It's something that happens; friends get older and move on, while you're stuck at the same age, watching from afar.

Regardless of how tonight goes, I do know one thing I've never had a group of friends like I've had with my Forks friends. My mates in London before I became a vampire were some of the best mates a guy could ask for, I will never downplay their friendship because it meant the world to me. They accepted me even though I was an outsider and a Scot, though I talked funny and would converse with my parents in a language my friends didn't understand, even though I was the target of the school bullies because of my accent and where I was from.

In a strange twist, my friends here in Forks had done the same thing as my small group of mates in London, more than half a century ago had done. They had accepted me, befriended me, and made me one of them, despite once again, my funny accent and my well…weird aura.

But for now, I wasn't going to dwell on the what ifs, sure it was going to be in the back of my mind all night, but for the time being, I was going to have fun, I was going to be just a regular teenager, something I don't get to do very often.

"I hope you don't mind Em, I brought the PS2 and the Xbox up here, they won't stay up here, but Alice wanted them out of the way, something about her putting the dance floor there." I explained and Em nodded

"Speaking of which, have you seen what she's done to the place down there? I think Esme and Carlisle are in for a drop dead moment when they come home."

"Yeah hence why I'm staying up here, where'd they go anyways?" I asked stacking my DVDs carefully up on the shelf, like they'd always been there as opposed to just installed tonight.

"Alice miscalculated how much soda she needed, she asked them to run to the store and get some more."

I blinked in surprise

"Miscalculated, the fridge in the kitchen was packed, there was enough soda stored in the garage to open our own supermarket."

"I don't know what to tell you kid, she told them she needed more, she said there's a bunch missing but she has no idea where they went, you should hear her down there."

I grinned a little and nodded over to the mini fridge I had bought off of Amazon a week ago in anticipation for this party.

Emmett looked at me suspiciously, he went over to the fridge and opened it, it was stock full of soda, most of which Alice had deemed off limits. I hadn't meant to clean her out, I had only taken the cases that were in the garage. I've seen how much soda my friends go through in a sitting, I was not going to run out.

"So she noticed?" I asked nodding at the stack of cases that I laid out just in case I ran out of cans in the fridge.

"Gee you think kid? She's on a rampage down there, I would definitely stay up here." Em paused "but I do like what you've done up here, we could have some great times up here. Imagine this place during the super bowl?

"Or during the World Cup?"

"Or the Stanley Cup?" Em countered

"Or the World Cricket tournament."

"Yeah whatever," Em paused "we'll definitely have to get a bigger TV up here,"

I stared at my brother, the TV that I had brought up here was our old TV from the family room, it is insanely big and was nearly bigger than me.

I don't even know where my brothers got it in the first place. The one downstairs is just as big…if not a few inches bigger.

"Bigger, Em if we go bigger it isnt going to FIT up here."

"Oh ye of little faith. It's a project, you know what happens when we give Esme an architecture project she takes it head on and gets it done. We could have a total Man Cave up here."

I rolled my eyes and laughed at my brother, even though I totally agreed with him, the girls had taken over pretty much every corner of this house, even the family room wasn't off limits to the girls, we just tended to take it over more often then them.

"Guys only, I like it." I paused "but after tonight."

"Yeah, yeah, have your little kid party up here. Now is it because you guys are too scared to hang around the big scary high school graduates, or is it because you personally are scared of the big scary Alice?"

"I'll go with the latter, if I didn't have my friends coming over here, she'd have me dressed up in one of those butler penguin suits, serving the 'guests' cocktails…" I shuddered. "Speaking of which," I looked around and pushed the last couch up against the wall, it left plenty of floor space in front of the TV, with the video game systems all set to go and the movies lined up.

I had run down to the grocery store in the center of town and stocked up on all kinds of snack foods. I mean I don't know a ruffles potato chip from a cheese doodle but I think I got enough junk food to keep even my bottomless pit friends happy.

I looked at my brother and nodded around, asking for his approval, he grinned and nodded, giving me a thumbs up.

"Looks good kid, nice job."

"I just gotta run downstairs and make sure Rose is going to help me out, is she down there?"

"She's floating around somewhere," Em replied then he nodded understanding "ah, the test is tonight huh?"

I nodded

"Yeah, moment of truth I suppose."

"Kid you'll be fine, and even if it doesn't work out, you've got nothing to regret here. I mean you've clearly made some great friends and it's been cool to see you having fun." Emmett paused and lowered his voice "I wasn't going to say nothing,"

"Anything" I corrected, the English major in me was not pleased with his double negative.

"Whatever, I wasn't going to say 'ANYTHING' but you were starting to get like Edward, you know pre Bella Edward, sullen, moody, I was getting pretty worried."

"Oh come off it Em I wasn't that bad."

"Oh hell yeah you were," he paused and grinned "but since you've been hanging out with these guys you're back to your old self, the fun Chris that would team up with me to annoy Edward. And even if tonight doesn't end the way you're hoping and you end up not going back to Forks High next year, it'll be fine. I just hate to see my cool little brother go back to acting like the stick up his butt one."

I snorted back a laugh and Em joined me, I knew he was right, more times than not Edward has that aura about him.

"My grandmother would've said 'he's got his britches all knotted up around his arse.'" I explained to Emmett, who burst out laughing

Yes, this was my grandmother saying that. She tended to say it in Gaelic so it sounded way harsher, especially when you translated it and knew what she was saying. She used to say it to my uncle all the time because he was the more serious of the two boys, my father clearly being the less serious, he was always goofing around and playing jokes even as an adult. It dumbfounded everyone in the family that my father not Uncle James became the doctor. While Uncle James stayed behind on the Callaghan family farm.

"Kid, I think I would've liked your grandmother,"

"She would've loved you Em, you two would've annoyed and amused each other." I paused "anyways, if you wanna escape from the party at all tonight you're more than welcome to come up here and hang with us."

Emmett weighed that option for a moment, hanging out with newly graduated high school kids or hanging out with a bunch of fourteen and fifteen year olds. Both sides had its pros and cons, but I think hanging out with us sounded like it would be more fun.

"I'll consider it, thanks."

I nodded and headed downstairs, I had to find Rose. She was actually in her room and was very happy to oblige to my request to make me look as old she possibly could. She helped me pick out some clothes that were I had to admit stylish, and definitely more mature than my favorite pair of baggy jeans. These jeans were expensive and not a hole in sight and unlike my favorite pair of jeans, these fit perfectly, no belt required.

The shirt was something from Hollister or American Eagle, I'm not sure which, but it wasn't me…this wasn't my style, and I was pretty uncomfortable. Rosalie pointed out though, that was the point, it wasn't supposed to be me, I was supposed to be dressed as the older me.

To complete the makeover, I pulled on a pair of puma sneakers that were all black and expensive, like the rest of the clothes, Rose slicked my hair back, changing me from a fourteen year old kid to someone who could possibly pass as a fifteen year old nearly sixteen year old teenager. I borrowed Rosalie's watch it was smaller than I'm used to and therefore it made my wrists look bigger, at least I hoped it did.

When we were all done, Rose nodded her approval, she had pulled it off, but even she was surprised at the result. When Esme walked by the room, Rose called her in and Esme stopped short in surprise.

"Oh my…Christian look at you, you…look so…"

"So what?"

Esme reached over and hugged me gently

"So grown up, I can't believe it."

A part of Esme was clearly impressed by the work Rose had done, but I could see it in her eyes, there was another part of her, that was watching her youngest grow up in a matter of minutes. Everyone in the family gets special attention from Esme, but I'm the youngest in the family, and with that territory comes Esme mothering me a little more than the others, and now standing in front of her was me trying to be older than I really was.

"Thanks mum," I said hugging her back, she gently touched my hair brushing a loose strand of hair back, tucking it behind my ear, before she left Rose's room.

I looked over at Rose, a little concerned; she smiled gently and patted my shoulders.

"Don't worry about it Chris, I think she was a little surprised, when you look in the mirror you'll see why. I'm the one who did this and I'm surprised at the result, my little brother just grew up."

"Thanks Rose…" I replied as she hugged me tight, before I headed downstairs.

When I got downstairs, Alice and Edward were debating the music, a subject which could get either one of them in trouble since neither have in my opinion good taste in music, especially not Edward and his classical crap.

"Edward!" Alice yelled to him from next to the speaker, I winced as I headed down the stairs. "I need your advice." She gestured towards the towering stack of CDs. "Should we give them familiar and comfortable? Or…" she gestured to a different pile "educate their taste in music?"

I nearly gagged when I saw the music in both piles; they were going to drive all their guests insane, an entire graduation party having their brains liquefied from bad music.

Edward read that in my mind and glared at me from where he was standing. Bella hadn't noticed me coming down yet, which I was amused by.

"Keep it comforting." Edward said still glaring at me, of course it was all in good fun, and I was fully prepared to give it right back to him. "you can only lead a horse to water."

"Yeah it's another thing entirely to make the poor creature choke down the horrible stuff." I spoke up sliding in next to Bella silently. She jumped at least a foot in the air and I grinned at that, apparently she really hadn't noticed me. Interesting. "Little jumpy Bella? Calm down it's a graduation party Halloween's not for quite a while." I said carefully, grinning wide. "But if you'd like, I'm sure Alice would love to throw a Halloween party, it'll be awesome, I bet we could turn this place into a haunted house and freak everyone out."

Bella's sudden glare matched Edward's perfectly and I chuckled, not phased a bit by the glare. I was getting used to it and if anything it amused me.

"Chris…" She started to say

"Yes Bella?" I asked as sweet as possible, flashing a toothy grin, I've noticed Bella never stays mad at me when I grin at her, I guess I've got this half grin thing going on that amuses her, but regardless, she can never say mad at me for very long.

"Never mind," she said, she was staring at me intently, completely surprised not by my sudden appearance, but by my appearance itself, like Esme, Bella almost didn't recognize me.

I was beginning to feel a little confidence about the party itself, this was either going to go off great or come back to bite me in the ass.

"Anyways," I continued, moving away from my appearance "Alice you know better than to let Edward pick the music, like I've been saying for how many years? We don't live in a funeral parlor" I paused "or an elevator though his tastes in music easily fall under both styles. Edward's music is gonna either freak your guests out more than they already are or put them into a coma." I tilted my head and let out a snore, pretending to be asleep, Bella giggled a little bit in-spite of herself.

Edward reached forward to smack me off side the head, but I saw it coming and dodged the smack, laughing loudly I bolted back upstairs to get some of my stuff. I didn't go far when I heard Bella speak up, talking about me, so I paused at the top of the stairs to listen.

"He's not staying down here?" She asked

"A few of Chris's friends are coming by as well." Alice explained, "he'll be back down when they get here."

"Good." Bella said satisfied, apparently if she had to be forced to stay at the party she couldn't understand why I wasn't being forced to do the same. My argument to that would be, not my party, not my graduation party. "Did he dress like that willingly or did you guys force him into that?"

"Chris is testing his friends." Alice replied

"What like a friendship test?" Bella asked, clearly confused

"No, he wants to see if any of them notice he looks older." Edward explained, "it will be the determining factor if he will return to Forks high in the fall." He paused "fifteen is the oldest Chris has ever pretended to be and it was tricky even back in the sixties. He wants to try it one more time, if his friends make a comment about him looking older tonight or he profiles them being suspicious then he knows he can't easily pull it off in the fall day after day. If they don't say anything or he doesn't profile their suspicions he's planning on staying off their radar for the summer and so they will be surprised by his new look when school resumes in the fall. Of course there is nothing he can do about his height, but he's hoping to at least appear somewhat older by the fall, Rosalie, Alice, and Esme promised to help him if need be. If it doesn't work tonight, it will mean Esme and Carlisle will find a way to explain his not returning for his sophomore year."

There was a long pause and I could practically see Bella looking up the stairs after me, her sympathy was following me up the stairs. I didn't have Jasper's ability, but I could still feel it.

"That's so sad." She said softly

"That's how life goes." Edward explained, "Chris knows it and has learned to deal with it. It was a risk he knew he was taking getting close with his friends here, now he gets to deal with the consequences."

I sighed, Edward was certainly right, but did he really have to say it aloud and remind me?

Xxx

I wandered through the party, trying to avoid eye contact with the teenagers that had filled our house. I recognized them all from school, but most I didn't know their names. I really couldn't wait for my friends to get to the house, I was seriously feeling like a fish out of water and trying to avoid being stepped on.

"Chris!" I heard Angela exclaim, she pushed through the crowd and hugged me tight. "look at you, you look so grown up!"

"Hi Angela," I replied when she let me go "congratulations!"

"thank you,"

"How does it feel?"

"Strange, it hasn't set in yet, how about you, how does it feel to be graduating from freshman to sophomore?"

"I'll let you know when it sets in."

"I've been looking all over for your sister do you know where she is?"

"In this chaos," I replied "she could be anywhere, I would head towards the music, her and Edward were arguing about music before the party, so they're probably still arguing about it."

"Oh, hey I heard Marie and some of your friends were coming is that true?"

I nodded, I heard the sound of tires on the gravel and recognized the car, it was the Burke's minivan. Of course no one else could have heard that sound,

"They should be any minute, I was on my way to check see if they're here yet." I paused "see you later Angela, and congrats again."

"Thank you Chris," Angela replied and I headed towards the front door.

Bella was out on the porch, two of her friends, Eric Yorkie I think his name is and a girl whose name I do not know moved past me without a second glance and headed inside.

I was right about the car coming up the drive way, as the minivan pulled to a stop and the occupants slid out.

'cuse me Bella!" I said from behind Bella, she jumped again and gave me a look that made me pretty sure she thought I was doing it all on purpose, and I wasn't going to admit to it, but I kinda was. I grinned at my friends and waved at them as each piled out of the minivan. "Hey you guys made it! Did you find the driveway all right?"

"No problem, the lanterns really helped" Marie replied

"Thank Alice for that one." I explained "She went a little…crazy."

The window of the car rolled down, Mrs. Burke was driving, she leaned over the passenger seat and smiled at us. I glanced behind me and saw the shocked look on Bella's face, apparently she hadn't realized that Mrs. Burke the school librarian was Marie's mum.

"Hi Chris!" she called waving at me

"Hello Mrs. Burke," I replied

"Tell your brother and sister and Bella I said congratulations. Marie, do not forget the cards." Marie darted back to the car and took three cards from her mother's outstretched hand. "Oh, Hi Bella! There you are" she called waving at her, Bella got over her shock quickly and waved back at the librarian. "Congratulations to you too sweetie!"

"Thank you," Bella replied unable to keep the surprise off her face.

"Chris make sure you pass that onto your brother and sister."

"I will Mrs. Burke."

"10:30 I will be here to pick everyone up is that all right?"

I nodded

"Not a problem. My parents are inside and there's plenty of food if you want to come in?" I invited

"Thank you for the invite honey but I'm going to have to pass, Mr. Burke and I have to run into Port Angeles tonight. Tell your parents I say hi and congrats to them as well!" Mrs. Burke finished

I nodded, Marie came to my side and took hold of my arm.

"Bye mom!" she called "see you at 10:30!" and with that Mrs. Burke drove off. The rest of our friends joined us on the porch.

Unlike Marie they were regarding the house with apprehension, it didn't have anything to do with attending a party at the Cullen house, I seriously think it was being at a party full of graduate seniors.

"Oh, Bella this is Sara, Jenna, Patrick, Kelly, Steve, Nick, Tisha and Paul. Guys you know Bella Swan." I introduced my friends to Bella, The group of all chorused with a 'hi' in sync. Clearly they were still a little freaked out, I rolled my eyes and gestured to the house "Come on, like I said tons of food inside, you've gotta see what my sister did to our house. It proves there's a fine line between cool and insane, you guys thought the lanterns were extravagant, wait till you see the rest of the house. Plus I got a spot set up just for us, movies, video games, food, in our loft, it's all for us, no else allowed without special permission."

"Soda?" Paul asked and I grinned

"More than enough soda." I replied "a mini fridge chock full."

"Cool," he said.

With that, all still huddled in a pack they moved inside, Paul leading the way, his confidence seeming to build up a little.

Marie paused for a moment handing Bella a card, I knew what was in that card, and if I know Bella like I do, I was going to be the target of a glaring match again. I knelt down, pretending to fix one of Alice's millions of lanterns, always best to avoid eye contact in this kind of situation.

"Congratulations Bella." She said shyly "we all chipped in for the money that's in your card, same with the cards for Chris's brother and sister. I hope it's enough."

"Marie you guys didn't have to get me anything." Bella told her, I heard a gasp, as she opened the card, clearly surprised to find $350 in it in twenties and tens. "You really didn't have to, this is too much."

Marie's ears went red

"Like I said we all chipped in, Chris chipped in most of it, he wouldn't take no for an answer and gave more than what we expected." She smiled shyly at Bella, and lowered her voice assuming I couldn't hear her "he gave us almost two hundred dollars of it." Bella's coughed her surprise, as Marie darted inside after our friends. I winced, _thanks Marie_ I thought rolling my eyes

I felt Bella's intense glare boring into my back, I took a deep breath and slowly stood back up to look at her, she gave me an expectant look, her arms crossed over her chest, she looked like a teacher expecting an answer.

"What?" I asked innocently

"You know what."

I dusted off my hands and grinned wide

"You said that Edward was forbidden to give you any gifts you never said I wasn't allowed." I explained myself 'Sides, you need all the money you can get to pay for the tuition at Alaska, I heard the meal plan includes Caribou and it's top dollar." I finished with a laugh before darting in after my friends. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Bella throw her hands up in the air in frustration, trying not to laugh.

Xxx

A/N: I know I promised this would be up last week and I'm sorry it took so long to keep that promise. I also know this chapter seems a little short, I will have the next chapter which continues the party as well as the entrance of Jacob into the party, up hopefully next week, if not it will be up by the weekend I will be typing up a storm to get the chapter to you guys! Thank you as always for the support and encouragement, and most of all patience. Keep the reviews coming and thank you all again!


	24. Chapter 24

Xxx

The party at least in my mind went off the way the dance should have gone, just a group of friends having fun, saying a final goodbye. Of course none of us talked about that part, Marie leaving, the possibility of me not coming back next year, who knew what next year was going to bring.

None of my friends had mentioned my appearance, and I certainly didn't profile anything out of the ordinary with their reactions, Marie had shyly told me that I looked really handsome. I knew I had pulled it off and I knew I could relax and enjoy the party.

We played scene-it, watched a movie, even played charades. I mean it wasn't a rocking party, but for our small group of friends it was perfect, none of us are really party people. No one said a word about the dance and no one mentioned Marie movie, we just had a good time.

We talked about our summer plans, Patrick was going to Hawaii with his family, he was ecstatic because they were going to Pearl Harbor, Pat's a history nut, especially World War II, he'll read anything on the subject he can get his paws on. I've always wondered how he would react if I told him that the Second World War was a large part of my childhood.

Jenna was going to visit her grandparents in Florida, give her a vacation the family hadn't had since her dad lost his job.

When the question came my way I went with a week in Alaska visiting friend's of my parents then off to Scotland for a month to visit my aunt and uncle. It seemed logical enough, mainly because I didn't know how this summer was going to go about.

It could be just a regular summer, but if Bella did become one of us it would be much different. Even with all I had profiled on my friends, next year could bring a situation that would not bring me back to Forks high school.

But I refused to dwell on that, it wouldn't do anyone any good and would especially not be good for me to dwell on it at this time. We were having a good time, I would not spoil that.

Around 9:30…we ran out of soda, I mean literally ran out of it, I swear between Nick and Patrick they drank at least twenty cans each. Somehow the food held out, but I had to go down to the main party to get more soda for my addicted friends.

What I was not expecting when I got down there was the smell, a scent I did not expect penetrated my nostrils and made me crinkle my nose in disgust…wolf, Jacob, the wolves had come? Wait…Bella had uninvited Jacob I thought, I mean he had tried to kiss her and she punched him right in the face, granted all it did was hurt her hand, but still…why were they here now, were they crashing the party.

I didn't have a chance to really think that over as Jacob made a huge mistake, he put his arm out in front of Alice and Bella, blocking them.

"HEY!" I said loud enough for Jacob to hear me, but Jasper beat me over there, I would not want to be in Jacob's position at that point. Quickly I ran over there and ducked under Jacob's arm, putting myself between him, Bella, and my sister. Jacob was stunned at both of us, he seemed intimated by Jasper and confused by me. but he pulled his arm back away from the wall,

"We have a right to know," he muttered, glaring at Alice around me, so I moved so he was looking me right in the eye, we stared each other down, neither of us blinking or looking away.

Then Jasper stepped in between us, knowing my brother had control, I moved away in sync to this and the three werewolves braced themselves. I tried to relax my body as backed away from them allowing Jasper to take control, however I refused to move away from Bella. She was my main concern.

Alice's face went blank for a second, she looked at me carefully and I knew that look, I knew what she had seen. I indiscreetly shook my head, hoping she was wrong, but the look in her eyes, told me she was not. They were coming here…the newborn army, we wouldn't have to go to Seattle, they were coming to us, they wanted the fight on our territory…bloody hell.

"Alice what did you see?" Bella asked seeing the look between the two of us. "Chris?"

"The decisions been made," Alice said

"You're going to Seattle?" Bella looked at me quickly as she asked that, I tried not to look at her "Chris come on…Alice?"

"No," I finally said and the wolves looked at us completely confused "no we're not…"

"They're coming here?" Bella choked out and I was actually impressed that she figured it out, maybe Bella had a bit of profiler in her.

"Yes," Alice confirmed,

"To Forks?"

"Yes,"

"For?" Bella continued to ask, these short question and answers were making our heads dart back and forth between Alice and Bella, even the wolves were doing it and in a different situation it may have been comical.

"One of them carried your red shirt." Alice explained, Jasper shot her a look, he wasn't all that happy about the wolves being included in this discussion, but I knew they had to be, they deserved to know exactly what was going on.

I thought over what Jacob had said and I had to agree with him, if a newborn army was going to be a problem for us, it was going to be a problem for the wolves as well.

"He does have a point Jasper." I whispered "technically it affects them as much as us." Jasper looked at me quickly, but nodded.

"We can't let them come that far. There aren't enough of us to protect the town." He explained and I nodded.

"I know," Alice said "but it doesn't matter where we stop them. There still won't be enough of us, and some of them will come here to search."

"They have a one track mind," I said more to myself than anyone, Jasper knew how newborns think, better than anyone else. "And with the Denali clan not helping we're going to be outnumbered." I lowered my voice so only Alice and Jasper could hear, but the wolves heard too. Bella going off their reaction shook her head violently

"No!" she hissed "Alice, I have to go, I have to get away from here."

"It won't help," I said to her shaking my head "Bella, these arent trackers, they won't follow your trail. Newborns are different I wasn't kidding about the one track mind, they will come to Forks first because that is where they were told to go."

"Then I have to go meet them." Bella offered and I rolled my eyes at that one "if they find what they're looking for, maybe they'll go away and not hurt anyone else."

Bella," Alice protested and I slapped my forehead at Bella's offer.

"Hold it," Jacob finally joined the conversation "what is coming?"

I chuckled a sarcastic laugh, there was no humor in it at all, Jacob and the other wolves looked at me quickly.

"Our kind," Alice explained "lots of them."

"Why?"

"For Bella," I replied there was more to it, but I didn't say anything, I wasn't going to say it in front of Bella, she was already back on a sacrifice herself for the cause kick I wasn't going to be the one to encourage that. "That's all we know," I gave Jacob a look, he seemed stunned by it as he understood there was more. Apparently Jacob and I were coming to an understanding with one another, not entirely sure if it was a good thing or not.

"There are too many for you?" Jacob asked, it wasn't meant to be insulting, it was stating a fact, but the tone didn't sit well with Jasper.

"We have a few advantages, dog. It will be an even fight."

"No," Jacob said a grin appearing on his face, I profiled him, understanding what he was thinking and I couldn't help it…I copied his grin, he was right and I couldn't believe we hadn't thought of it before. "It won't be _even_"

"Excellent!" Alice hissed she looked over at me and we nodded at each other, Alice isnt a profiler, but she knows me and I could tell we were thinking the same thing. We would work together, that would certainly give us the numbers and it would give us an advantage that the newborns would not be expecting.

"Brilliant." I breathed "bloody, bloody brilliant." I knew I was grinning wide, I couldn't help it, this was going to be excellent. I knew Emmett would be thrilled. Alice, Jacob, and I all exchanged this grin. I was even tempted to slap high five with wolf boy, that's how impressed I was.

"Everything on my end just disappeared of course," Alice explained her voice smug. The wolves had for some reason been obscured from Alice's visions, we could never figure out why. Though it's annoying, it's manageable. "That's inconvenient, but, all things considered, I'll take it." she looked over at me for reassurance that it would work. I could see the profile laid out in front of me, the wolves would give us the surprise and the numbers.

"This will work," I spoke up, my had taken over my face "I cant believe it never occurred to us. Its bloody brilliant." The wolves chuckled at my accent, I looked over at Bella, usually my accent makes her laugh too, not this time…this time she looked ready to throttle me. I grinned at her and shrugged, not about to be deterred by her look of death.

"We'll have to coordinate." Jacob spoke up "it won't be easy for us. Still this is our job more than yours,"

I rolled my eyes at him and he looked at me like he was trying to reprimand me, seriously who did he think he was.

"I wouldn't go that far, but we need the help. We aren't going to be picky." I replied

"Wait, wait, wait," Bella interrupted, but I don't think any of us were paying attention to her at this point. We were all way to excited about this prospect, "coordinate?" Bella repeated and Jacob laughed

"You didn't honestly think you were going to keep us out of this?" he asked

"You are staying out of this."

"Yeah good luck with that," I replied and Bella glared at me

"Your psychic doesn't think so." Jacob explained "neither does your profiling flea."

"hey," I grumbled good naturally, I'm sure there was worse things he could have called me.

"Alice, Chris, tell them no!" Bella cried "they'll get killed."

The three wolves laughed loudly

"Bella," Alice spoke up "separately we could all get killed. Together-"

"It'll be no problem." Jacob finished

"It's the old saying Bella" I added "one we are weak, united we're strong." Bella's glare was really getting more amusing, when Rose glares at me like that I'm somewhat intimated, Bella on the other hand not so much.

"How many?" Jacob's friend asked

"No!" Bella shouted

Seriously Bella wasn't even part of the conversation anymore as Alice thought that over carefully.

"it changes," she explained "twenty one today, but the numbers are going down."

"Why?" Jacob asked, genuinely curious

"It's a long story," I explained looking around the room carefully, before looking over at Alice, there was way to many people here, our conversation was already not appropriate for this gathering.

"And this isn't the place for it." Alice added

"Later tonight?" Jacob asked, clearly he was anxious to get this started, I think if the battle could happen tomorrow it would be to long of a wait for him. I was a little amused and a little disturbed by that.

"Yes," Jasper answered him. "we were already planning a…strategic meeting. If you're going to fight with us, you'll need some instruction."

The wolves all made a disgruntled face at the last part, not happy that vampires would be teaching them how to fight.

"He's right," I explained looking directly at Jacob "Jasper has experience with what is coming. We're all going to need to prepare, us just as much as you guys." I expected Jacob to argue with me, but he stayed silent nodding.

"No," Bella moaned, I think she was realizing that no one was listening to her anymore.

"This will be odd," Jasper said thoughtfully, both of us exchanging a look. "I never considered working together. This has to be a first."

"No doubt about that," Jacob agreed, "We've got to get back to Sam. What time?"

"What's too late for you?" Jasper asked and I burst out laughing as all three wolves rolled their eyes. Jasper looked over at me and I grinned, nodding at the wolves.

"What time?" Jacob repeated.

"Three o'clock?"

"Where?"

"About ten miles due north of the Hoh Forest ranger station." I spoke up looking at Jasper who nodded "Come at it from the west and you'll be able to follow our scent in."

"We'll be there," Jacob finished, him and the other two turned to leave, and Bella called after them. I did not profile any danger anymore with Bella and the wolves so I let her go.

I headed to the kitchen to get the soda I had promised my friends. The party was going to feel a little different now, but still, it was something to look forward too.

Alice met me in the kitchen and at first I was afraid she was going to chastise me for taking her sodas, but instead she smiled at me.

"That was excellent." She said and I nodded

"Yeah really, I can't believe it never hit us to ask the wolves." Now Alice gave me a look "what? I'm serious, we both have the same goals here, protect Bella, protect the town, just because we're natural enemies does not mean we can't have a cuppa and work together." I grinned and she rolled her eyes at me, then reached forward to hug me tight.

"How is your party going?"

"Smashing," I replied grinning "no seriously it's been fun." I looked at my watch "and it's nearly over…" I added sadly,

"You should go back to your friends Chris."

"The test worked Alice," she looked at me happily "depending on how things go this summer, I'd like to give sophomore year a try."

"Even without Marie," Alice asked carefully

That question felt like a kick to my gut but I nodded

"Yes," I replied "even without Marie. We've said our goodbyes. In time she'll realize it too."

Alice hugged me again and I hugged her back, before turning to head back to the loft. Alice coughed a little catching my attention.

"Christian, where are you going with my soda?"

"Sorry, your what?" I asked innocently, Alice crossed her arms and tapped her foot expectantly. "Right" I looked down at the box in my arms "please? I'm having fun."

"Having fun?" Alice asked

"Encouraging my friend's soda addiction. It's amusing. Come on, you should've see Paul and Nick during charades, it was bloody hilarious." Alice started to reprimand my language, but clearly thought better of it "and now we're going to play trivial pursuit, it's going to be even better."

"Fine, Chris, take my soda,"

"Thanks Alice!" I exclaimed ignoring her guilt trip, I kissed her cheek and ran back up stairs, trying to maintain human speed.

Xxx

I tried not to watch the time as the minutes crept close to 10:30. I could hear the party downstairs winding down and the party up in the loft was matching its speed. Nick, Patrick, Paul, and Steve were so sugar high they were actually crashing and falling asleep on the couch, the chairs, and the floor.

The girls for the most part were watching a movie, I'm not sure what it was, I wasn't paying attention. Marie had migrated over to my favorite chair and was sitting with me, the two of us are skinny enough that we were both quite comfortable sharing the seat, well one of us was. I was nervous as heck, I wasn't used to sitting with someone like this, she leaned closer to me and rested her head on my shoulder and I timidly put an arm around her.

I couldn't believe, that soon I would be saying goodbye to her, I was going to be letting such a great friend leave. I also knew deep down that I had no choice. I wouldn't be able to keep up the charade much longer, next year yes that might go off without a hitch, but what about the year after, or senior year? I'd never make it, never be able to pull it off, my friends were growing up and I was not. I had accepted it, but doesn't mean I have to like it,

"Chris?" Marie whispered

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay? You're really quiet all of a sudden."

I smiled carefully

"Just thinking about how much fun I've had tonight."

Marie nodded

"Me too," she paused "I'm going to miss you Chris,"

"I'm going to miss you too Marie, you'll never know what you did for me, what your friendship has meant to me. Maybe someday you will, but just know for now that you made a difference for me."

Marie seemed confused by that, she snuggled closer to me and hugged me tight, just as my watch beeped…10:30.

"Chris honey," Esme knocked on the door "sweetie, Mrs. Burke is here." She came in and looked at all of us crashed about, she chuckled to herself and then smiled sadly at how content Marie looked sitting with me.

All around me my friends started getting themselves up, Paul seriously looked like he was about to be sick and it wasn't surprising given everything he had ate at the party.

"I'll walk you guys out," I said softly, my shoulders slumping, I was the last one to leave the room, well sort of, Marie wouldn't let go of my hand so we kind of moved out together. As I walked past Esme she gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze.

We walked through the remnants of the party, only a few people were still here and most were congregating near the speakers. Bella watched as we walked by, she seemed to realize what was going on and gave me a sad smile. Marie walked over to Bella and to Bella's surprise hugged her tight.

"Congrats again Bella, good luck up in Alaska."

"Thank you Marie," Bella replied hugging her back, then Marie turned to Alice and Angela, who were standing nearby, no hesitation on Marie's part as she hugged both of them in succession. Angela started crying as she hugged Marie back

"Good luck in Massachusetts Marie," Angela sniffed "you'll do great out there I know you will. We're going to miss you so much, but we're so happy for you."

I could see the tears welling up in Marie's eyes as she tried not to cry.

"Thank…thank you" she sniffled, turning to hug Alice. Alice smiled at her, hugged her close and whispered in her ear, a normal human from my distance wouldn't have heard her, but I could.

"Marie, thank you,"

"For what?" Marie asked softly

"For being there for my brother, your friendship with Chris has made a world of difference. You are such a sweet and wonderful person, don't forget that. It's okay to be shy, but don't let it stop you from letting the world see who you are, because who you are is a beautiful and kind person and the world needs that."

Marie's ears went bright red, she clearly didn't know what to say to that, so she stuttered a little, thanking Alice, before turning back to me.

Mrs. Burke was talking to Esme and Carlisle on the porch, discussing Massachusetts and the move, getting advice about the move itself, all sorts of things. A friendship between Marie and I wasn't the only thing that was getting close to the end tonight, Marie's parents and mine had become good friends too and that too was ending.

When Mrs. Burke saw the group of us she smiled and hit a button on her car keys to open the minivans sliding doors, one by one my friends thanked me for a great party, wished me a great summer and stumbled in until it was just Marie, her mum, my parents, and I.

Mrs. Burke hugged me close thanking me and wishing me good luck in the future, giving me an open invitation to come visit them in Massachusetts. I knew I probably would never be able to take them up on the offer, but I thanked her and told her I would try.

My parents hugged Marie gently, giving her the same good luck and thanks that had been the theme of late. Once they had finished, the three parents turned away, giving Marie and I our last goodbye.

"I don't want to go," Marie said softly "I don't want to leave Forks, my friends…you."

"Hey, it's okay, it's an adventure. It'll be fine. Marie you have my number and my email address, you know if you need anything you just have to call me, if you need more than just to talk I'll be on the first plane I can get, I'll show up at your front step to make sure you're okay." That got a smile out of her, she was trying not to cry but I think all the tears had fallen in the past weeks or so, I don't think she had anymore left at this point. "but on a serious note, you're going to have such an amazing future. You'll make new friends, go to college, you're going to do great things Marie."

"You too Chris,"

I didn't correct her, but I kept going as if she hadn't said anything, our futures were going to be very different. Hers would be full of changes and new opportunities, mine the same life I had been living since 1940.

"Remember us here in Forks, remember our friendships but don't dwell on them, don't live in the past, embrace the future. The past is there to remember and to learn from but you can't live in it, you have to move on, go out try new things, experience new things. Don't let anything hold you back." I took her hand and kissed it "thank you Marie for reminding me what true friendship is like."

Marie seemed confused by that last part as I hugged her gently and walked back to my parents. She was still stunned as she climbed into the passenger seat of the minivan. I gave her and my friends a heartfelt wave as Mrs. Burke put the van into drive and headed down our winding driveway.

Once they were out of sight I put my head down, I felt awful and couldn't explain it. Esme reached over and pulled me close, her arms around my shoulders.

"It's not easy Chris," she whispered "but you handled that so well."

"Alice said she'd be okay…do you think she's right?" I asked

Carlisle nodded

"I think Marie is going to be just fine Chris and you will be too."

I nodded at my parents, as we headed back into the house. I couldn't see the van anymore, couldn't even make out the taillights, but I could picture Marie inside. I closed my eyes and instead pictured all of us sitting upstairs, having fun, my first real friends in decades, I knew I would never forget that.

It also meant that I had more to protect then just the town and Bella when the fight came, I had my best friends to protect as well, time to go talk to Jasper and start going over our plans. We had to have all our plans ready before we met with the wolves.

xxx

A/N: Sorry if this chapter seemed kind short and filler, you'll see the method to my madness soon. I wanted the end to be just Marie and Chris saying goodbye. As you probably have guessed, this is the last chapter Marie will make an appearance Believe me writing her out of this fic was not easy for me I would have loved nothing more than to keep her around. But you will see in the future why she was written out. I can't go into more details than that for spoilers sake. I hope you all enjoyed her character as much as I enjoyed writing her.

Also, the other reason this chapter was kind of short was because I want the training scene and the wolf encounter to take up it's own chapter because believe it or not it was actually the first thing I ever wrote for these fics, I mean all of them.

Chris'ability actually came into existence because of the training scene, up until I had read that chapter in Eclipse he was just a regular member of the Cullen family kind of floating around in my mind, that chapter got the wheels turning in my head and I was able to actually develop him from an idea into an actual character. So I'm really proud of it and happy to finally share it with you guys. So hopefully I will have that up by next week.

Thanks as always for the wonderful support!

Till Next Time!


	25. Chapter 25

xxx

Emmett and I ran the entire way to the meeting spot, beating everyone there. I'm faster than my brother, but that's only if I'm trying, I wasn't this time around. I just wanted the chance to run. As we got to the clearing our usual baseball spot, Emmett tried to tackle me, I dodged his tackle just in time as he tried again this time I jumped over him grinning as he hit the ground, nearly missing a tree, but he was back on his feet pretty quick.

Jasper who had been pretty serious since the party actually gave us both a grin and joined in a little bit, both trying to tackle me and both failing miserably. Emmett burst out laughing as I ducked under Jasper's arm and nearly took Carlisle out.

"Sorry dad,"

Carlisle smiled, he wasn't angry, but he did shake his head at us.

"Don't you guys think it would be wise to save your energy?" The question was only half serious. I looked over at Jasper who let me read his body language and I grinned wide, yes we were going to demonstrate my ability, Emmett saw the pair of us exchanging a look and he groaned.

"Aw man, the profiler gig?" he asked, he hates that because it always means I'm going to get the better of him and land on his shoulders. It never fails and I find it hilarious.

"It'll be a good demonstration for the wolves and for Bella," Jasper explained "she is terrified for Alice and Chris' safety. I would like her to see that Alice and Chris will be fine."

I heard a stick cracking the woods and looked over towards the woods, Edward and Bella had arrived. Bella seemed confused by something and I followed her look over to Alice, who was kind of pouting. I knew that look, her visions had vanished which meant the wolves were on their way.

Like me, Alice is so dependent on her ability, I've only been in a few situations where my profiling ability short circuited so to speak and I don't like it…it makes me feel like I'm working on a half gear. But I've never been in a situation where my ability has completely failed me, so I could only imagine how my sister must have felt.

"Hey, Edward," Emmett spoke up grinning, then he looked at Bella "Hey, Bella. Is he going to let you practice too?"

Edward groaned and gave Em a look

"Please, Emmett, don't give her any ideas." He said and Bella kind of smiled at us, clearly trying to hide an amused grin.

"When will our guests arrive?" Carlisle asked Edward closed his eyes for a second

"About a minute and a half." He said, then looked at me "Chris you and I are going to have to work together on this. I'll have to translate and Chris you need to read their body language and their emotions. They don't trust us enough to be in human form."

Carlisle nodded, he expected that as did I. I actually would've been stunned if they came as humans.

"This is hard for them. I'm grateful they're coming at all."

_Me too_ I thought, it was tough for me to admit, but in all honesty I knew it was true, we needed them for this fight, and whether they agreed or not, they needed our help as well. These newborns were not going to play by the same rules as us Cullens, and the sooner the wolves realized that the better all of us would be.

Bella stared at Edward, then glanced over at me

"They're coming as wolves?" she asked

I was about to answer her when I felt a wave of emotion wash over me…caution, fear, and a little bit of excitement. The pack had arrived, the smell came after the emotions and I breathed carefully trying to get my nose used to the scent as it burned my nostrils.

But I counted the emotions I was feeling, there was way too many of them to be just a handful…I tried to remember how many we had seen all those weeks ago chasing Victoria around the forest. What had it been six wolves all together? Definitely way more than that now.

I could see their eyes, I could see their outlines as they came through the trees. Bloody hell I was counting ten giant wolf bodies.

Our little circle adjusted into a line, Jasper and Emmett taking point, I moved to Emmett's side, but I made sure that I wasn't standing right with my brothers. The less of a force it appeared we had the better, we didn't want the wolves to think we were preparing for a fight with them by putting three vampires right out front.

"Bloody Hell," I hissed staring off into the woods at the pack as it came closer,

"Damn" Emmett muttered under his breath to me "Did you ever see anything like it?"

"No…" I replied, "that's…that's amazing." I glanced over at my mother and sister, I had been expecting a reprimand from Esme over my language but she was too stunned her and Rose were staring at the incoming pack, we all were.

"What is it?" Bella whispered "I cant see!"

"The pack has grown," Edward replied carefully "Fascinating," he added.

Carlisle looked over at me and nodded as the pair of us broke the line and moved towards the pack, slowly.

In all reality I would much rather have Emmett or Jasper go up to meet the pack with my father, I hate to admit it but if things went south, they would be better at protecting then me. But Carlisle had his reasons for taking me, my ability with animals aside, bringing the youngest up with him shows that we trust the wolves not to attack us, and trust has to go both ways.

"Welcome," he said, greeting the pack.

"Thank you," Edward said, it was weird, hearing my brother speak, but knowing he was translating for the leader of the pack, Sam, weird a little creepy. "we will watch and listen, but no more. That is the most we can ask of our self-control."

Quickly I did a scan of their emotions, unless it was absolutely necessary I wasn't going to alter their emotions, I just wanted to know what I was dealing with here, but surprisingly they were pretty calm, all things considered.

"That is more than enough," Carlisle replied, he glanced down at me and I gave a quick nod, letting him know things were still all good. "My son Jasper," he gestured to Jasper "has experience in this area. He will teach us how they fight, how they can be defeated. I'm sure you can apply this to your own hunting style."

"They are different from you?" Edward translated for Sam, seriously this was getting really weird.

"They are all very knew, only months old in this life. Children in a way. They will have no skill or strategy, only brute strength. Tonight their numbers stand at twenty. Ten for us, ten for you…it shouldn't be difficult. The numbers may go down. The new ones fight amongst themselves."

If Edward translating for Sam was creepy it was nothing compared to the rumble of growing that came after Carlisle finished that sentence, it sent a chill down my back as if the wolves were pleased with the idea of the newborns fighting with each other.

"We are will to take more than our share, if necessary."

"We'll see how it plays out." Carlisle replied, I glanced behind me at Emmett who gave me a grin, we were thinking the same thing, tally time. Whoever got the most newborns won the bet, I could see the wheels turning in my brother's head and I knew he was probably wondering if he could convince the wolves to take part in our bet. Rose seemed to understand the thought passing between us because she shot both of us a glare.

"Do you know when and how they'll arrive?"

"They'll come across the mountains in four days, in the late morning. As they approach, Alice will help us intercept their path. And Chris," Carlisle put a hand on my shoulder "can work a strategy for our best positions."

"Thank you for the information. We will watch."

Jasper stepped forward, as Carlisle and I stepped back into the line. Jasper gave me a look and I nodded, focusing on the wolves emotions

I didn't mess with them, but I kept an eye so speak on them, especially when Jasper turned his back on the pack, he was not comfortable with this move and who could blame him, but I felt it was safe and Edward who had access to their minds felt it was safe as well and Jasper trusts us.

"Carlisle is right," Jasper said carefully "they'll fight like children. The two most important things you'll need to remember are, first, don't let them get their arms around you, they will crush you and, second, don't go for the obvious kill. That's all they'll be prepared for. As long as you come at them from the side and keep moving, they'll be too confused to respond effectively." Jasper looked at me quickly and I nodded, both of us curious as to how my ability would counter the newborn's one track mind. "Emmett,"

Em stepped out onto the open area of the clearing, right between the forest line where the wolves were still standing and our family line.

"Okay, Emmett first. He's the best example of a newborn attack."

Emmett glared a little, not seeing Jasper's meaning and taking offense to it.

"I'll try not to break anything," he muttered annoyed. Jasper grinned realizing he had just hit a sore spot, when Em saw the grin he calmed down and nodded, understanding.

"What I mean is that Emmett relies on his strength. He's very straightforward about the attack. The newborns won't be trying anything subtle either. Just go for the easy kill Emmett." Jaz instructed and Em nodded "okay, try to catch me."

As Em barreled towards Jaz he was out of the way. I've always been amused watching Em and Jasper fight, Jasper's battle knowledge versus Em's brute strength, usually they're evenly matched for a few minutes, but Jasper's knowledge always wins out in the end. It took only minutes for the demonstration to end, as suddenly Jasper was behind Em, teeth near his neck.

"God damn it," Emmett swore as the wolves rumbled something that could've been taken as an applause. "Again," Em insisted, he was not smiling anymore, Em does not take defeat gracefully.

The funny thing is the more times he tries to overcome defeat, the easier it is to defeat him. He had this chess game going with Jasper for almost three hours straight and it wasn't just one game either, because every time Jasper won, Em insisted on a rematch and Jasper just kept beating him, getting faster and faster each time. This time was no different but Emmett wasn't going to get his rematch right away.

Now Edward stepped forward grinning

"It's my turn," he said

"In just a minute, I want to show Bella a couple of things first." Jasper replied returning the grin, Bella looked up quickly at hearing her name, obviously confused as to what Jasper had to show her.

Alice stepped forward at Jasper's command and I saw the anxiety all over Bella's face, she was truly terrified about Alice getting hurt and I mean at first glance of Alice it's understandable how you could think that, unless you know Alice and how her visions work then you feel bad for anyone that thinks they can take her out easily.

Emmett stepped over to me and we both exchanged a grin, knowing what was coming. Em elbowed me gently in the rib

"Twenty bucks says she gets him in two?" Em asked

"Fifty and the main TV for two hours for the Cricket tournament, says she gets him in thirty seconds or less." I countered and Em nodded

"I'll take that," and we shook on the matter.

"I know you worry about her," Jasper was explaining to Bella "I want to show you why that's not necessary."

I won't even begin to describe Alice and Jasper's dance, it's almost impossible to describe, because it happens so fast even for a vampire, even for a vampire with a profiling ability. I mean it's bam, bam, bam…and then before you know it…there's Jasper with Alice perched suddenly on his shoulders, kissing his neck.

"Gotcha!" she exclaimed happily and kissed him again.

"You truly are one frightening little monster." Jasper replied. I looked over at Em and held out my hand expectantly, 29 seconds that had taken, a new Alice and Jasper record.

"I'll give it to you later." Em grumbling

"Kiss of death," I whispered and he hooted with laughter before pushing me gently, I let him instead of dodging his attack.

Bella still looked scared to death and was paler than normal. I could also hear the wolves muttering again, this time it sounded more nervous than before and I had to agree with them, Alice's ability can be frightening sometimes, but they really had nothing to worry about, unless Jacob had forgotten to tell them which I couldn't see that happening, Alice can't see their particular future.

After Jasper lowered Alice to the ground, he looked over at me, nodding for me to come into the ring.

I grinned wide and stepped towards my brother. Bella looked positively terrified and shocked as well and I couldn't help but roll my eyes as she kept looking at Carlisle and Esme, hoping that they would put a stop to whatever was about to happen.

She was really worked up about me getting hurt and I had to put a stop to that. She had enough to worry about, the last thing she needed was my safety as well. I kicked off my sneakers and tossed them to Rosalie. I would need to feel the vibrations in the ground to fully defend myself against my brothers

"You ready?" Jasper whispered to me and my grin widened as I nodded. Jasper turned to Bella "Bella, you also said you were worried about Chris?"

She nodded slowly, not sure if her answer would change what was about to happen. And Bella really wanted what was about to happen to stop.

"We're gonna show you that I'm the last one you need to worry about, no one catches the profiler unless I let them." I added as Emmett stepped forward blindfold in hand. I used the few seconds I had to profile Jasper quickly.

I know my brother's fighting style, but I also know that he will change that to ultimately test my ability for the wolves to see.

I also know that Emmett and Edward will join in, so a quick glance at them told me all I needed, and with Edward I quickly put up a shield in my mind. I could multitask on my profiles and feed him wrong information while maintaining my actual profile to protect myself, it's something I've learned how to do over the years, countering his mind reading ability has become a challenge for me that I like to meet head on.

Jasper cleared his throat, before addressing both Bella and the pack. I could see how curious all the wolves were, their leader Sam especially. I could also see a smaller wolf step forward to get a better look and I recognized him instantly, that was the one that had attacked me out of the blue! When I went to check the boundary line. He recognized me too as his eyes went wide, I could feel curiosity coming from his side of the pack and a little surprise as well.

I didn't have time to dwell on that as Jasper began to explain what was about to happen next.

"My little brother's ability to profile is linked directly to his senses, all of his senses. When one of those senses is impaired the others take over, to protect him. This has not been pre-coordinated, Chris has no idea what style of attack I will use nor who else may attack him or when. but as you are about to see he can think very quick on his feet as soon as his mind has accessed the profile, by whatever means possible. This is what makes him useful in a fight against newborns, as Emmett demonstrated, they fight with brute strength and rely completely on instinct. They will not think their attacks through, no calculating. That makes them dangerous for most, but it also makes them easy for Chris to read which makes him the most dangerous one in our family to a newborn vampire. Of course in the actual battle he will not be blindfolded, this is to demonstrate exactly how powerful his ability is with when he is blind so to speak, so you will be able to understand what he is like when all of his senses are tuned into the battle."

I nodded and gave Bella a reassuring grin. Of course this apparently did nothing to calm her down as she continued to look at my parents; unable to believe that Esme would allow me to do this.

Emmett moved closer and tied the heavy cloth over my eyes. This was a heavy piece of canvas, we learned years ago that certain materials were just to easy for me to see through, the canvas is pretty much impossible to see through.

Immediately, as soon as my world went dark, my senses kicked into overdrive. I could hear, smell, and feel everything that was going on, I may not have been able to see the situation with my eyes, but my senses created an image for me in my mind.

I felt the movement in the ground as Bella moved closer to Edward and as one of the wolves shifted their body weight trying to get a better view.

Emmett took hold of my shoulders and spun me around a few times, his pointless attempt to throw my senses out of whack. Why he even bothers I don't understand.

After he was done I turned carefully to where the pack stood. I felt the ground shift a little more as they were taken aback that I zeroed in on them…not a hard thing to do, I could smell them and tried not to crinkle my nose at the unpleasant smell.

Carefully I turned my University of Alaska hat with the Seawolves mascot on it, backwards,

"Feel free to make as much noise as you want." I called, "the more noise the better actually." The battle would be ten times louder and I had to show the pack and Bella that no amount of noise could break up my profiles, that and I had to test that fact myself. I turned to Jasper and grinned "no matter what, full attack bro" I warned him I lowered my voice so Bella wouldn't hear "we have to know it'll work. don't hold back."

"Never." He replied and I could practically see his grinning. Since Jasper first discovered that like Alice it's nearly impossible to catch me he constantly tests my ability (usually when Esme is not home) he knows it would upset her if she knew he was testing my ability in anticipation for future battles.

But it's a game to us we have fun with this and even though we were training for a battle with newborns, this was still going to be fun for us.

"Whenever you're ready bro…catch me if you can!" I instigated and tensed my body as Jasper came at me.

Expecting his first move I easily countered it sidestepping as I felt the air rush past me, he had come close, but still had missed me.

Emmett began shouting and cheering, egging us on and the wolves too joined in howling, yipping and crashing their heavy paws on the ground. This was good, the vibrations and all the noise simulated what the battle would be like.

We had never tested my ability to this magnitude so I was glad that the wolves were taking the whole thing to heart I needed to know that I could focus with all the distractions.

Of course in battle I wouldn't be blindfolded, but all my senses were going to be working overtime. I also had to remember that if any of the wolves got hurt I would feel that and would have to find a way to either counter that or react to it depending on the situation and the severity, but that wasn't something we could test or wanted to test for that matter.

"Bella," I heard Edward's voice over all the distractions and guessed by the tone of my brother's voice that she was hiding her face afraid for my safety. "This particular demonstration is more for you than the pack. Chris will be very disappointed when he figures out that you missed it all."

I wasn't sure if she was watching yet, but I couldn't concentrate on that as Jasper lunged at me again and again. He always came close to getting a hold of me, but as usual I managed to stay just out of his reach.

He even tried sneaking up on me, distracting me by throwing a rock against a tree. My ears perked up as the rock shattered and I instinctively looked that way, but my profile gave me plenty of warning time to listen for Jasper's footsteps and sidestep him just in time.

I heard Jasper whistle, he was bringing in one of my brothers. Judging by the heavy steps I knew Emmett was about to join in, this was going to be a lot of fun!

Both my brothers lunged at me trying to come at me from both sides and get a hold of me that way, but I slipped just in time and they crashed into each other.

Each move they made I was able to counter it, my profile was working harder than it ever had alerting me to each change in vibration, each step, each little noise that would signal an attack, we have done this many times before, blindfold and all my brothers attacking me, but like I said the noise and onlookers were not something I was used to, it was the perfect test.

For a split second I felt Emmett's hand brush against my shirt, he almost had me, but within that split second was all the time I needed to move, but not before kicking Emmett's feet out from under him.

I felt the ground vibrate as Emmett jumped to his feet and lunged towards me again, growling as he went.

"Edward, get in here! The little twerp kicked me!"

"I've told you to never let your guard down Em, it served you right." I replied as Edward's footsteps came close to me.

I quickly did what I always do when wrestling with Edward, I focused on my profile, but not the profile that would help me elude my brothers. You'd think after sixty-five years, he would learn that reading my thoughts is only going to end in a loss for him. I've learned how his ability works and how to counter it, Jasper has trained me well, on that.

Edward always thinks that I'll be so focused on my profile that I won't try to block him out, hence why he greedily accepts the profile he sees in my mind. If only he looked a little deeper he would see the real profile hidden beneath the pseudo one.

I wasn't sure how long this had been going on. I knew only that my brothers weren't backing down and neither was I. Alice's voice caught my attention briefly and in the midst of dodging her husband I listened

"This kind of thing can go on for hours unless someone puts a stop to it. Its ridiculous, it's virtually impossible for them to actually catch Chris even with him blindfolded, without the blindfold? Forget it, they would be chasing him around the forest for hours."

That made me wonder…how much longer were Carlisle and Esme going to let this go on? Alice is right of course I won't actually turn and fight until I sense them preparing to put an end to all of this.

They had let it go on a while, longer than normal. I figured it was about time to show the wolves and Bella what Jasper meant by me being dangerous. I had annoyed Emmett and Edward enough for the day.

I felt them surrounding me and knew they were about to lunge. I timed the attack with their footsteps and at the last second jumped in the air, sliding over Jasper's shoulders and landing behind him on one knee.

_Showtime_ I thought as they lunged at me again. I ducked under Edward, crouching down low to sweep his feet out from under him with a kick. I swear I felt Jacob's emotions shift from intrigued to amused at that and I hoped that Edward was to focused on my profile to hear Jacob's thoughts, whatever they may be.

Jasper took that moment he thought I was distracted to reach for me, but I was able to vault off his shoulders and over his head in one clean move, in an actual fight, as Jasper had instructed me in the past that would've been the time to take the head off, I grimaced at that thought for a split second as my main target came into my profile's sight.

Emmett who had his back to Jasper and was moving towards the down Edward never saw me coming as I landed on his back. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held on tight.

I ripped off the blindfold and tossed it to the ground, grinning at the onlookers. The wolves looked impressed, Rosalie and Alice were giggling, Esme and Carlisle looked relieved, but it was Bella who I needed to see. She had a mix of relief and surprise on her face, with a bit of nerves too.

Jasper pulled Edward to his feet as Emmett lowered me to the ground gently.

"Good job kid, it'll work." Jasper complimented patting my shoulder as he walked back to Alice's side.

"Why me?" Emmett asked "why do you always land on my shoulders."

I grinned wide

"Simple, there's plenty of landing room." I replied seriously as he smacked the back of my head.

"Smart ass."

The wolves were stunned, they had stopped howling and pawing the ground and were just standing there motionless. I grinned at them, swept off my hat and bowed, before retuning back to the line, so Jasper could continue with his demonstration.

"See Bella?" I spoke up and she looked down at me "tis fun!" I exclaimed. She glared at me, but her expression softened a little bit

"Okay, I'll admit, that was kind of cool."

I nodded my satisfaction and went to watching Jasper and Edward go at it, it's always interesting to watch my two brothers in a fight, I mean Jasper's the fighter of the family, he's the one we rely on to lead us in a fight, (not that we've ever faced a fight of this magnitude before, but there's nothing wrong with planning), but Edward has read his mind, he has been reading Jasper's mind since Alice and Jasper first waltzed through the front door, he's seen the battles Jasper has fought, coordinated, etc. Because of that, Edward is evenly matched with Jasper, though Emmett and I both agree if it weren't for Edward's ability, Jasper would have him beat every time, Edward would be no match for Jasper.

After Carlisle put a stop to their endless dance, Jasper moved onto the rest of the family, working with each one, including Esme. I could feel Bella stiffen next to me as Jasper attacked Esme, but she had to know that Jasper would never hurt our mother, and Esme of course has the option to sit out, which unfortunately she won't do. I hate to admit it, but I'm on Bella's side for this one, of everyone in our family, Esme is the main one I don't want to see fight the newborns, Carlisle either, but not my mother especially.

Carlisle will be having a tough time taking a life, it's the whole doctor thing and who he is as a man, all life is precious to him, however if our family is in danger he will fight to protect it, not himself necessarily but the rest of us. Esme is a little different, granted life is precious to her too (in a way it is to all of us) but she is so motherly so caring that she might very well look past the bloodthirsty newborn army coming to kill us and see the people…the teenagers and young adults they once were.

I groaned at that thought, that would be my mother, which meant I was definitely going to have to keep an eye on her during the battle to make sure she stayed safe.

About an two maybe three hours into the training, while Jasper was instructing Emmett on how to take down a smaller, but agile opponent who insisted on jumping on his back (IE me) and how to keep said opponent from doing that, he decided to call it a night. When sleep means nothing to you, you can pretty much go on for hours and not even notice, which is what happened, but we had Bella to think about as well as our wolf audience.

"Okay, Em, that's enough, you can put him down" Jasper said and Emmett looked up, he had me lifted in the air after finally getting me off his back, and nodded

"You're the boss," he said and literally dropped me to my feet, kind of expecting it but not really believing he'd go through with it I winced when I hit the ground and glared up at him,

"He didn't mean literally Em!" I said, unable to even be mad at my brother as he reached down and pulled me to my feet.

Jasper turned to the wolves and cleared his throat.

"We'll be doing this tomorrow. Please feel welcome to observe again."

"Yes," Edward spoke up and I shuddered, definitely was not going to get used to that creepiness "we'll be here."

I looked over at Edward and profiled him quickly, something was on his mind, I know that face, I looked over to the woods and realized it was something coming from Sam that had Edward conflicted. He looked at me carefully, before turning to the rest of the family as well.

"The pack thinks it would be helpful to be familiar with our scents…so they don't make mistakes later. If we could hold very still, it will make it easier for them." Edward explained what Sam had just asked. He looked back at me, asking for not only my profile but my feeling on the wolves.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on their emotions only, I could feel calm, they were definitely in a better place than they had been earlier, they were still a little suspicious of us, but I could see that they were serious about getting our scents, they did not want to risk one of us being killed by one of them.

Though I think the idea of us all being gone would've made some of them very happy, they had as a group reached the conclusion that maybe us Cullens arent as bad as the rest of our kind, not to mention, Jasper knew what he was doing and they had agreed that it was possible they needed us to help them fight off the newborns.

With these thoughts playing out in my head, I knew Edward could see them and confirm that it would be okay. Carlisle looked over at me then at Edward and we both gave a nod.

"Certainly," Carlisle said "whatever you need."

I held my breath as the forest moved, the pack standing up and walking towards us slowly. I looked between my father and my mother trying to make a split decision of where to stand in the line up…the instinct to stand with my father as his less threatening, but still protective son was overwhelming, but I knew Emmett would stand with him, my place was to be with Esme. So I moved to be in between Rose and Esme, ready to protect both of them if I needed too, I was just praying that my profile was right about the wolves and it was safe.

I couldn't help my nerves as Sam walked up to my father and gave him a sniff over, clearly repulsed by the odor us vampires apparently have, but Sam was a professional of sorts and was obviously committing each scent to memory, as were the others. My nerves skyrocketed again when he came up to Esme, she seemed calmer than the rest of us about this whole thing and just let Sam and the pack do what they needed to do.

Now it was my turn. Sam and I stared at each other for a moment, as he sniffed me, followed by the others. Jacob, who by the way he was looking at Bella was pretty easy to guess, he did what he had to do and kind of raised his furry eyebrows a little, almost as if he was laughing. I couldn't help it, I grinned at him and he nodded, before moving on to Rose.

But it was the second to last wolf that caught my attention. I recognized the markings instantly as the one who had tried to attack me. I winced at that thought as Edward stiffened, I had done such a great job at keeping that from everyone then I had to let my brain think it, damn it.

Instead of looking proud or ashamed of his actions, the sandy colored wolf kind of gave me this goofy canine type grin, he cocked his head to one side like a puppy, before heading down the line. It was almost like he was apologizing for his actions and asking if we were cool. Definitely weird.

I couldn't help but sigh with relief when the sniff downs were over, our first training session with the wolves watching was pretty much over…but I knew another session would be coming soon, the battle was getting closer.

xxx

A/N:

As I think I mentioned earlier in this fic, a lot of the ending was finished long before I had even thought of posting this series. They were fun little scenes for me to play around with and are now converging into an actual story. This was one of those parts. I had written the training scene a long time ago so it was nice to be able to just tweak it a little and walla chapter 25 is up. So I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, this was one of my favorite scenes to write and I hope you guys liked it too. Next update should be up and ready next week, hopefully.

Till then! Thank you guys for all your support


	26. Chapter 26

Xxx

Jasper and I stood side by side, listening carefully to Bella, Edward, and Jacob discuss the coming battle and well…what to do with Bella herself. She was the target after all, but we couldn't risk having her here during the fight, it was too dangerous for all those involved, us, the wolves, Bella especially.

"I think Jacob is onto something," I whispered to Jasper who nodded "but Edward's right, if he carries her," my voice trailed off, we both knew "what if one of us did it?" I said thoughtfully "the newborns may be familiar with Edward's scent and certainly Bella's, but we're not a part of that equation are we? Emmett could carry her up into the mountains."

"It's a good thought Chris," Jasper replied "but I don't think having one of us do it would work, I think any vampire scent will clue them in."

I sighed he was right of course, then I looked at Jacob…his smell even as a human pierced my sensitive nostrils. I looked over at Jasper as my eyes got wide…Jacob…Jacob carries Bella, masks her scent.

Jacob seemed to heading the same way in thought, but he wasn't quite there yet, I looked at Jasper and hurried towards my brother, Bella, and Jacob.

"My scent disgusts you, right?" Jacob asked Edward, who started to answer, but I jumped in between them grinning

"Jacob, gotta hand it to you that's bloody brilliant, I was thinking the same thing." I exclaimed, Jacob looked at me suspiciously for a moment, but slowly nodded, realizing I had just paid him a compliment.

"It's not bad," Edward said thoughtfully "it's possible," he paused

"It's better than possible Ed, it'll work." I argued

Edward nodded slowly and looked over at Jasper who was hesitating to come over that close to Jacob.

"Jasper?" he called and Jasper came over slowly with Alice right behind him, he exchanged a look with me, then with Alice and we both nodded. This could work, it would have to be tested of course, but I had a good feeling about its outcome.

"It could work," Jasper agreed with me, even though Edward was somewhat hesitant and Bella apparently had no idea what we were discussing. Who could blame her though, she looked exhausted, I was honestly surprised she was still on her feet. When Jacob held out his arms to lift her up she looked at him blankly, then suspiciously

"You're going to have to let him carry you, Bella," Edward explained, when she hesitated, Jacob rolled his eyes and picked her up.

"Don't be such a baby," he said.

"Bella's scent is so much more potent to me…" Edward explained to Jasper and I even though we really didn't need an explanation, we both knew how Bella affected our brother. "I thought it would be a fairer test if someone else tried."

I nodded and Jasper did the same, with that nod, Jacob took off, Bella in his arms, I purposely turned around so I didn't see what direction they had gone. Like my earlier test, we had to go at this as if it was real.

"Ready Dr. Doolittle?" Jasper asked and I nodded again, the three of us, Jasper, Alice, and me taking off at full speed, trying to follow Bella's scent, it had quickly been overtaken by the smell of wolf and it was pretty nasty and none of us wanted to get that close to it, even though we tried to pick out Bella's scent. But even me, the tracker of the family, the profiler, even I couldn't follow Bella's scent, all I could go by was wolf.

"I knew it would work," I breathed as we headed back to the clearing "which actually might give us an advantage. We could use this mask to help us as well as protect Bella.-"

"Leave false trails all around?" Jasper asked and I nodded "I was thinking that too,"

"Great minds do think alike." I paused "Bella walks the most logical paths for our kind to take coming here, she leaves her scent all along that trail. Multiple directions all leading to the same place. It'll confuse them and force their numbers to split, give us and the wolves an easier time taking them out."

Jasper nodded, he had something weighing on his mind, I knew that look very well. I cleared my throat expectantly as we walked into the clearing, heading towards Edward, Jacob, and Bella. Alice after looking at us for a moment skipped ahead to join them, while we took our time.

"Chris," he started "if I was to suggest something, would you be able to give a possible outcome of it?"

I nodded,

"Should be able too," I replied "why?"

"I was thinking of something that would make this battle overwhelming side into our favor."

I stared at my brother and sighed

"Edward would never allow it," I reminded him, I didn't even need to hear the suggestion; I knew what he was thinking. He was thinking of how beneficial it would be to have Bella at the battle, as far from harm's way as possible, but her presence it would distract the newborns, they'd never have a chance to attack us because they'd be focused on Bell. "I see your point Jas, but no…it's a bad idea. Sure it would make destroying the army easier, they'd be sitting ducks, but in theory so would Bella so would we. I can't speak for everyone else, but I wouldn't be able to concentrate on taking out Joe Some Newborn when I know Bella is sitting there as bait, even if one of us or even a few of us were standing guard with her. No, it's a good thought Jas, but we both know it's not going to work."

Jasper nodded, he did know it wouldn't work, but still felt the same way. I understood his reasoning and strategically it made sense, but in this situation it was to risky.

We joined Edward, Jacob, and Bella in the clearing, Bella still looked exhausted, but she seemed to perk up a little, anxious to find out how our little test went.

"Well?" she asked

"As long as you don't touch anything, Bella, I cant _imagine_ someone sticking their nose close enough to that trail to catch your scent." Jasper said grimacing. "It was almost completely obscured." He paused "even Chris couldn't track Bella."

"I knew which way Jacob went," I explained "but if I hadn't seen him carry Bella off, I wouldn't have guessed she was with him."

"A definite success," Alice added

"And it gave Chris and I an idea." Jasper finished

"Which will work." I said grinning at my brothers, Edward nodded his approval and returned my grin.

"Cleaver," he said still nodding

"How do you stand that?' Jacob asked Bella softly, apparently assuming we couldn't hear him,

"Seriously Lon Cheney?" I asked "our hearing is just as good as yours if not better." Jacob looked at me quickly and though I expected a glare he kind of grinned a little, apparently liking my wolf-man reference.

"Anyways," Edward spoke up, returning us to the conversation, he turned to Bella to explain our plan.

"We're, well you're going to leave a false trail to the clearing, Bella. The newborns are hunting, your scent will excite them, and they'll come exactly the way we want them to without being careful about it. Alice can already see this will work and Chris is already planning strategic placements for everyone here. When they catch our scent, they will split up and try to come at us from two sides. Half will go through the forest, where her vision suddenly disappears."

"The rest will come straight at us, we'll be waiting here at the clearing, that's when the wolves come back in, the newborns will try to regroup, especially when most of their numbers are decimated by the wolves." I added, my profile going into overdrive as I filled in the gaps of Alice's vision.

"YES!" Jacob hissed, for a quick second he almost gave me a high five and I almost returned it. We stopped midair, realizing what we were doing…not ready for that just yet.

Edward looked at Jacob, unaware of our near friendship moment as he smiled at how all this was playing out. Bella on the other hand looked ready to pass out and not from exhaustion, but from fear.

Jasper however looked down at me briefly and I read his body language carefully. He knew the answer from Edward and he knew I had told him it wasn't a possibility, but he was still going to suggest it. That's how Jasper thinks though, he goes for the military solution, the most plausible solution that will increase the odds in our favor. Militarily, putting the object of the newborn's attack dead center was logical, but it wasn't right in this situation and Jasper was about to be shot down again.

"Not a chance," Edward growled a little

"I know I know," Jasper replied "Chris already shot it down. I didn't even consider it, not really." He stopped rambling when Alice stepped on his foot. "If Bella was actually there in the clearing, it would drive them insane. They wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything but her. It would make picking them off truly easy."

"But as I pointed out to Jasper," I spoke up, shaking my head at Edward's glare at him, "it's not safe, it would work, but the risk is too great. None of us will be able to concentrate on taking out the newborns if we are focused on Bella's safety."

"It's too dangerous for her, like Chris said." Edward said "it was just an errant thought."

"It was a strategic thought," I argued, "the risk just outweighs the reward. That's the only reason I argued against the idea Edward. If I profiled it all working smoothly and Bella not being in the slightest danger you know I would be for it. Because militarily Edward, you know it would be the logical course."

Edward glared at me

But Bella smiled carefully at me and I shrugged.

"No," Edward finished firmly

"You're right," Jasper said, taking Alice's hand gently as they headed back towards the rest of the family. Emmett looked at me and I could see the grin on his face as he held up one finger and gestured for me to come. "Best two out of three?" Jasper asked Alice.

Alice nodded and the two of them headed back to the family.

Jacob looked down at me, clearly still unsure how to take me, which was fine because I was still profiling him and his pack.

"It was a great idea Jacob, nice job, thinking like a profiler." I complimented him and slowly held out my hand for a shake. Jacob looked at my outstretched hand for a second and then to my surprise nodded, but he didn't shake my hand he kind of fist bumped it, it was better than nothing.

When I got back to the family, Emmett's already dopy grin got bigger. He looked over at Esme and Carlisle who were trying to ignore us, well Carlisle was, Esme kept glancing behind her to make sure Emmett wasn't about do something stupid or reckless with me. I love my mother I really do, but I do sometimes wish she wouldn't worry about me so much.

"You want another arse kicking?" I asked, now Esme turned quickly, reprimanding me with her eyes "sorry mum," I replied shrugging,

"I wouldn't have called that much of an ass kicking,"

"Emmett!" Esme scolded

"Sorry mom,"

"Boys, if the two of you don't watch your language I will find a way to ground both of you,"

"Sorry," we replied in unison as she rolled her eyes at us, turning back to Carlisle, the two of them discussing something in hushed voices.

"Anyways, admit it Em, I totally whopped you,"

"You landed on my shoulders like a deranged parrot, how is that whopping me?"

"Rematch then?" I challenged, Emmett nodded

"Rematch

"Emmett be gentle, Chris you too." Rosalie spoke up

"Don't worry so much!" I exclaimed grinning as I got into position. Emmett saluted at Rosalie and she rolled her eyes. "Ready bro?"

"Don't want a blindfold?" Emmett asked

"Why think you'll have an easier time beating me if I'm blindfolded?" I retorted and Emmett hesitated realizing he had walked into that.

"You're going down Squirt." Emmett lunged at me, which Jasper has warned him time and time again is the wrong move against a profiler. I easily dodged my brother's attack, twisting around Em's back before he knew what was happening. Emmett's brute strength is great in a fight and when we work together our abilities make us pretty tough to beat. Working against each other though is another story; brute strength does not always beat planned calculation.

Once I got behind Em I tapped his shoulder then darted back when he reached out to grab me, I could see his next few moves as he continued to lunge at me, trying to get a hold of me and I wasn't giving in. I darted around Alice and Jasper as Em chased after me, quickly I ducked behind Rosalie who glowered at me

"Do not use me as a shield Chris,"

"Just for a second Rose, I've got Em on the ropes!"

"You what!?" Em exclaimed trying to get around his wife to get me "get over here you little chicken!"

I wasn't even trying to profile my brother at this point, I was just having fun playing cat and mouse with him.

Rose reached over and grabbed my arm shoving me gently towards Em. I wasn't expecting my sister to betray me like that.

The rest of the family was watching at this point, Carlisle was shaking his head trying not to laugh, but Esme was concerned, especially when Em lifted me up high in the air.

Edward and Bella were walking over and when Edward saw what was going on he slapped his forehead rolling his eyes.

"I am taking Bella home," he explained to Carlisle and Esme, apparently trying to ignore us, Bella looked up at me and Emmett, concerned. "Ignore them, I do," Edward said to Bella.

"Hey Em, just wait till I get my feet back on the ground, you are so going down!" I said loudly trying to get down.

"Going down?" Em asked, "feet back on the ground?"

I groaned at my own stupidity

"oh bloody hell," I mumbled

"Got it!" He threw me…literally threw me across the field. Bella gasped in shock as I flew through the air, I twisted my body so that I landed on my feet sliding through the soft dirt, trying to stay upright.

"Oh he's fine Bella, don't worry," Alice explained, "him and Emmett are just showing off like usual."

Bella didn't look convinced, but she nodded, and accepted Edward picking her up to carry her away from the clearing towards home. She was exhausted and needed to get some sleep, the next few days were going to be critical and like it or not Bella was key.

"Bye," she said sleepily and we waved her off.

"Emmett, please go easy with your brother. I would recommend you not toss him around like he's a baseball." Carlisle spoke up bringing my attention away from Edward and Bella.

"Oh come on Carlisle don't worry so much, the kid is like a cat he always lands on his feet." Emmett argued,

I walked back over to them tapping my sneakers on the ground trying to dislodge the dirt that had not only caked them, but had seeped into the shoes themselves. I thought Emmett's argument over for a second and grinned, just once I should not land on my feet, tumble around and play dead or something, try to freak him out that'll pay him back.

"Right," Carlisle replied, clearly not impressed with Emmett's argument "regardless, he is smaller than you

"Besides he has fun with it right kid?" Emmett asked me elbowing me in the ribs, I sighed.

"Oh yes of course I love being manhandled by my big brother than tossed like a sack of flour. It does wonders for my self-esteem and confidence regarding my portability."

"See?" Emmett exclaimed to Carlisle who was definitely ready to go home at this point.

"I'm pretty sure Chris was being sarcastic there Emmett," Jasper spoke up, I grinned at my brothers

"Anyone up for a race home?"

Jasper and Emmett exchanged a look and nodded excitedly.

"Stakes?" Jasper asked

"The usual?" I suggested

"How about we up the ante a little?" Emmett replied "winner gets to take Alice's Porsche out for a joy ride, the losers have to explain to her where her car is and take the blame?"

Jasper and I looked at one another, a bet like that would be fun, but was dangerous, Alice was not only protective that car, but she would also see one of us stealing it. Still, it was a pretty good bet and could be fun. So I grinned wide, I glanced at Jasper again, just to make sure he was on board, this was his wife's car we were discussing and we all know how scary Alice can get, it wouldn't surprise me if he backed out and we wouldn't blame him either.

"Sounds like a good bet to me," Jasper finally replied and Emmett nodded, we shook on the matter and lined up.

"Hey Rose?" Emmett called and she came over looking at her husband suspiciously, before looking at Jasper and I equally as suspicious.

"What Em?" she asked

"We've got a race planned would you do the honor of officiating it?" he explained

"Do I want to know what you three are betting on this race?" we looked at each other and shook our heads in unison, Rosalie sighed "I didn't think so. Fine, Chris give me your hat."

I looked at her in shock

"Oh come on Rose not my hat."

"I will give it back to you when we get home. You will be away from it for less than ten minutes get over it." I gave her a pained look, sliding my hat off "it will not kill you to be without it. I thought you guys wanted me to officiate this?"

"We do,"

"Well then, I'm in charge, my rules. Give me your hat."

"Fine," I grumbled, tossing my hat gently to her, she smiled smugly and walked in front of us, standing so there was space for Em who was in the middle of the line and I to run around her, Jasper stood on the outside of the line.

I leaned down low, like I was getting ready for track meet, kicking the dirt behind me, making sure I had a good foothold.

"Ready?" Rose asked, and we nodded. Carlisle, Esme, and Alice were watching the three of us, this was the kind of thing Carlisle and Esme didn't mind. It was the wrestling that concerned our parents and in all reality I don't blame them.

Sure I get annoyed when Esme reprimands my brothers for rough housing with me, I know she's got my best intentions at heart, but I know I can take care of myself in that regards and furthermore none of my brothers would intentionally hurt me and that's going on the basis that they could actually catch me. I mean I let Emmett catch me when he threw me, I could've easily avoided Rose.

Esme knows I'm safe with my brothers, but she also knows boys will be boys and just like any group of brothers, things tend to get out of hand, especially with four vampire brothers.

But racing is completely different, it's all speed, abilities aren't going to help you here, neither is brute strength, you're either fast or you're not.

"Be careful you three," Esme reminded and we nodded.

"On your mark, get set," Rose counted off as she raised my hat in the air, "go!" she shouted dropping my hat as we took off. As I ran by it, I grabbed my hat before it even touched the ground and slid it on backwards as my brothers and I headed into the forest towards home.

There are a few different paths to take to get back to our house. None of them are direct routes, but two of them are definitely faster than others, I knew which path I was going to take and my brothers seemed to have the same idea and I was determined to lose them.

I ran as fast as I could, it was still pretty dark, but I could see the light starting to brighten the forest as the sun woke up. You'd think that seeing the sunrise would get monotonous after a while, over six decades of sunrises. But to be honest I have never gotten tired of it, in those six decades I have never seen the same sunrise twice. Sometimes when I want to just watch it, I'll go to one of the best spots and watch for the sun to come up.

So with the sun coming up it gave me more incentive to get home before my brothers, our roof is a great spot for sunrise watching. Emmett saw the same thing I did and looked over at me, grinning evilly

"Going to win this time Dr. Doolittle," he called

"Not a chance in hell!" I shouted back and picked up speed, the only member of the family who can match my speed when I'm going full throttle is Edward and even then we're pretty evenly matched. Emmett is fast, so is Jasper, but I'm smaller than they are, lower to the ground, some reason that gives a speed advantage over my brothers.

I jumped over a boulder and darted around a few trees, I could see the house in the distance, just had to jump over the river and bam I'd be home and driving Alice's Porsche down the highway in no time!

I heard Emmett barreling behind me, unlike me, Emmett tends to just take out whatever is in his way, trees, stumps, bushes, yeah I avoid them; or some reason, Emmett fancies himself a tank. Subtlety is not my brother's strong suit.

I jumped smoothly over the river and landed on our property. I turned to look at my brother's smugly, but had to duck out of the way as Emmett tried to tackle me. He missed me of course and crashed into Esme's favorite birdbath…

Jasper came right behind Emmett and stopped short, the three of us staring at the pile of dust and porcelain that was once a birdbath.

"Oh bloody hell," I said in shock, Emmett got to his feet slowly and walked over to Jasper and I. "Mum is going to kill you,"

"Me?!" Emmett exclaimed, squeaking a little "why me?"

I stared at my brother and gestured forcefully at the crumbled birdbath, I couldn't believe he wasn't seeing this.

"Em, seriously!?"

"Hey, it was an accident, and besides it could've been any one of us. Come on, three musketeers, all for one, one for all?" Emmett asked, his voice panicking a little.

"Newsflash! That doesn't work with mum, remember?" I shot back and Jasper nodded, all three of us remembering the living room incident a few years ago. When Carlisle and Esme made the mistake of leaving Edward, Emmett, Jasper, and I alone for a weekend, Alice and Rose went to Fashion Week in Paris and well…let's just say the house got kind of destroyed.

We cleaned up afterwards, tried to put everything back in place, it took us hours to clean up what we had destroyed in ten minutes. It didn't matter though, Esme knew something was amiss, when integrating us as a group didn't work, she went another route; she did it individually. She started with Jasper, he was the least likely to cave and she wanted him out of the way first.

Then she went with Edward, followed by Emmett, then me. I'm pretty sure that's a tell tale sign that she thinks I'm the easiest one to extract information from.

I love Esme believe me I do, but I was just as guilty as my brothers and I was not about to admit to all of it being my fault, not a chance in hell.

I've come to the conclusion that it was Emmett who caved, because Esme grounded all four of us, helping her pull an extreme makeover home edition on the family room and the rest of the first floor of the house.

Anyways I did not want a repeat of that incident, there would be no all for one this time, Emmett was on his own.

"Maybe we can super glue it before they get home?" Emmett suggested

"Or maybe we can skip over to Home Depot and find the exact one before they get home," I replied shaking my head, I was being sarcastic of course, we may have beaten the rest of the family home, but they weren't far behind us. One of us was dead and my bets were on Emmett, there was no way we'd be able to get to the closest Home Depot or Lowes, both of which are too far away.

"Please, Chris come on," Emmett, begged, we could hear footsteps in the woods, the rest of the family was coming.

"Why are you begging me?" I asked looking at Jasper "I thought we were in this together?"

"We are,"

I grinned and shook my head, I know that look on my brother, he was chicken when it came to Esme, actually in our own way each one of us are, even Jasper.

"Em, just come clean, you tripped coming into the yard," I looked around and pulled over a bunch of Alice's lanterns she had used to decorate the driveway and the yard, she hadn't put any here, but it was worth a shot. I stuck them in the ground near where the birdbath was. That way it would look like Emmett ran into the yard, tripped over one of Alice's lantern things and took out the birdbath.

A total accident, no one's fault at least that's what I hoped.

I felt incredibly guilty when Esme walked into the yard and stopped short, seeing her birdbath in pieces.

"Boys?" She asked, her voice rising a little

"It was an accident mom, I swear," Emmett explained "I…I er tripped over one of the lanterns and…I'm sorry,"

Esme's face softened a little, I couldn't believe for a second she was buying this whole thing. I could read my mother's eyes, I knew it, she didn't believe it, but she was letting Emmett think she was, at least for now.

"Really, you tripped over one of my lanterns?" Alice asked crossing her arms over her chest. If Esme could be scary, Alice was just as bad; Emmett's confidence seemed to falter a little bit

"Yeah," he said, so Alice looked at Jasper who winced a little, he didn't keep secrets from Alice, ever.

"Is that so?" Alice asked "Chris? Jasper?"

"That's how it went down, he tripped, took out the birdbath." I replied, maintain a serious look, even though deep down I was trying not to laugh, "it was actually very difficult to watch Emmett become so klutzy, I felt so bad." I added Emmett shot me a glare, but he knew he couldn't say anything, any denial would incriminate himself.

Jasper and I indiscreetly bumped fists, trying not to grin.

"But Emmett already promised to replace it Esme," Jasper spoke up

"Yeah," I said "we're going to go right now to get you a new one. By the time we get to the store it'll be open, we'll be the first ones there."

Emmett looked a little more relaxed when I said that, I hope he was about to realize that I would be the one driving.

"Fine, thank you Emmett," Esme replied she patted his arm and headed inside, followed closely by Carlisle who shook his head at the three of us. Alice kept her arms crossed at Emmett and he ducked his head to avoid her gaze, she gave him one last look and headed into the house.

"You guys are in so much trouble, it's actually comical." Rosalie added, kissing Emmett's cheek and heading inside.

"She's right you know, you can only keep Alice and Esme at bay for so long, both of them will figure out you didn't trip over something."

"Yeah I know," Em said rubbing his chin, "but for now, we've got a road trip to take." He grinned and held up the keys to his Jeep.

"Forget the Jeep," I replied "Porsche,"

"Chris, that birdbath is huge, we'll never fit it in the Porsche, sorry kid, but you'll have to wait on driving it."

I made a face, realizing he was right…at least about the Porsche.

"But the Mustang is a convertible." I argued "it'll fit in that." I pulled out my keys "you guys in?"

Jasper and Emmett exchanged a look, grinned and we ran towards the garage to get my Mustang.

xxxx


	27. Chapter 27

xxxx

I was honestly hoping the couple of days leading up to the battle would go as slow as possible. Don't get me wrong, Emmett's excitement over it was growing on me, but in the back of my mind I knew the facts, death was hanging over us.

The moment that battle started, people, yes people were going to start dying. It may be the newborns, it might be a one sided victory on our part, but there was still that chance, that inkling in my gut that reminded me nothing was set in stone, not even our own future. A member of my family might die in that fight, a member of the pack might die in the fight…it was something that had been eating away at me for days and I wasn't really sure how to handle it.

This was a prospect we had never faced before, we've faced onslaught of attacks from nomads before, but never a full blown army. Three nomads, two nomads that was typical and easy enough to dispose of with a family of eight.

When you talk about vampires numbering in the twenties, the odds are not good, especially when that number is based solely on vampires who were brought into this life for the one purpose of killing. Not to mention, we weren't exactly fighting with all our numbers, Edward would be sitting the battle out. He wasn't happy about, that much was obvious, but Bella had asked him to do it, and he could not tell her no on that particular request.

I wasn't sure how I felt about that, a part of me knew Bella would ask something like that of Edward, so it wasn't much of a shock, but the other part of me had assumed (stupidly apparently) that Edward would refuse her request.

I would never admit it aloud and would certainly never think it in Edward's presence, but I looked at my family and I would give anything to have the opportunity to ask all of them to sit out of the battle, hell forget just keeping my family from the battle, the wolves as well, if I had the power I would make it so this battle never has to happen.

I'm reaching here of course, I grew up during World War II, I know that no matter how hard you wish for war to stop, wish for the killing to stop, it'll never happen just because you wish for it.

Maybe it's because I don't have my other half that I want to protect more than anything, so I can't put myself into Bella's shoes, but Bella's request kind of made me kind of mad…kind of hurt and a little jealous.

To me it was selfish on her part to ask Edward to choose her over his family, to bench himself while we fight basically their war. I get I may sound kind of bitter about this, but this thing has been eating away at me. I mean Bella isn't the only one who wants someone they love to sit out and not fight this war.

I don't want Esme anywhere near this battle, my mother always thinks of others before herself, I can't picture her killing someone, her kindness and love could blind her, a newborn hell bent on killing her could be standing in front of her and all Esme will see is the person that newborn once was, she'll want to try and help them, to regain some of their humanity, but all I have been told by Jasper, all I have profiled about what's coming, I know that's not possible.

I don't want Carlisle to have to face a moment where he must take a life to protect his own or one of us (when it comes down to it, in Carlisle's mind, his life is second to other, when it comes down to it, he will give up his life to protect one of us), my father is the truest representation of the Hippocratic oath, and I feel sick thinking about the pain he'll go through when he is forced to kill one of the newborns, if he's able to do it all, to save a life any life, Carlisle might sacrifice his own and that really hits me hard.

Alice may be able to protect herself just fine, but as we've seen in the last few weeks with the incident in Seattle, there can be holes in her visions, what if one of those holes is the one that leads her to…I can't even think it…

Jasper and Em, both eager to get this battle going, each with his own reason for wanting to fight, but still my brothers can be reckless when it comes to fighting, Em especially, as much as I'd like to think he'd never put himself in harm's way just to test boundaries, I've known him for way too long to ignore that fact.

Jasper on the other hand has been in this situation before, he knows better than any of us what is coming our way, but what if that overconfidence, that knowledge is his own undoing, his own Achilles' heel.

Then there's Rose…of everyone in the family aside from Carlisle, she has the most respect for life. Rose, Carlisle, and I are the only three in the family who have never once tasted human blood, but of the three, I'm the weakest, I've come close to slipping more times than I'd like to count, but Rose and Carlisle have never been tempted, never slipped. Even Rose's killing spree after she was turned could in theory be justified, she has never taken an innocent life or any human life for that matter since her fiancé.

To protect us, Rose will fight, but I have such a hard time imagining her fighting let alone taking a life, knowing my sister the way I do.

I would ask all of them to sit out if I could, to not fight, hell I would fight in my family's stead if I had the chance just to assure their safety.

Again as a profiler I can see Bella's reasoning, but as a member of this family I can't agree with her reasoning and can't help the jealously, how come she gets to pick who gets benched? Why is Edward's life more valuable, more important than anyone else in our family?

Don't get me wrong I love my brother, he may be a pain the arse a lot of times, but he's still my brother and I'm glad he's sitting out, glad he's safe, but the same argument keeps coming up in my mind, if he gets to sit out, why can't the rest of our family? Why should Bella and Edward's relationship stay intact, why is their love more important than Esme and Carlisle, Rose and Emmett, and Jasper and Alice, who are all in the very real danger of losing one another?

Not having my other half as Esme always calls it has given me a pretty good perspective on this whole couple thing, a perspective that has only gotten stronger since Edward found Bella. If something were to happen to one of my siblings or my parents, not only would our family lose them, not only would it be beyond devastating, but one of them would lose their other half, their literal soul mate.

To lose any part of our family, I don't think we would ever recover. We came close to experiencing that loss a few months ago and none of us were ready to repeat it.

This thought just made me even more frustrated with Bella and Edward, okay not frustrated, pretty damn pissed, both of them had experienced the very real threat that one of them may be dead, the whole Volturi incident a few months ago, was it really that long ago they had forgotten what it feels like?

That same kind of threat was hanging over the entire family…and of course my brother and Bella were too focused on one another to see it.

When we returned home from the final training session, the somber atmosphere had crept in and none of us really felt like doing much of anything. My frustration with Edward and Bella was building, I was trying to let it go, but like an annoying tune you get stuck in your head, it would not leave me be. So instead I put myself to work, hoping manual labor might take my mind off of all the crap, unfortunately it didn't.

Bella had spent the night, so avoiding her was out of the question. Her staying with us was all part of the plan. Chief Swan had been told that Alice was hosting a two day sleepover at our house while the rest of the family went camping. Jacob's father Billy was in on the plan and had invited Charlie down to the reservation to go deep sea fishing the Saturday of the battle.

The reservation would be protected by two of the youngest members of the pack who I've gathered are only thirteen, my physical age. Their age may not provide the reservation all that much protection, but none of us expected the fight to branch to the reservation anyways.

The town would be protected too, well as much as we could. We had made sure all the trails all the possible paths to the clearing led away from town. Provided we were victorious in our fight, the newborns would have no reason to venture into Forks they would come right to us. This made me feel a lot better kind of.

I gathered up as much of the camping equipment as we have to assure that Bella would be protected leading up to the battle, as annoyed as I was with the pair of them, I couldn't let Bella freeze to death. I could feel a snow storm coming that would hit in the mountains, exactly where my brother and Bella would be camped out, call me an old man, but I could feel it in my bones as well as my gut.

So I made sure that all the thermal sleeping bags that we keep around just for show, as well as the insulated tent were packed and ready to go, I also made a quick trip to Newton's Sporting Goods, and purchased a few things there, I was going on the better safe than sorry notion. I knew there was no such thing as over-packing here

Alice had been blah since we got home, I think she saw something in someone's future that either annoyed her or disappointed her, I couldn't be sure which all I know is I had nothing to do with it so I felt safe, if not curious as to what the problem was.

It didn't take long though as I was piling the supplies up near the front door to realize just who she was angry at and I was surprised to realize it was Bella.

The look Alice gave Bella was amusing as she turned to Edward, making a disgruntled face that was more in context of her visions than whatever about Bella was annoying her.,

"I think" she really hates that word, but with the wolves playing such a big part in this whole thing, Alice's visions were literally holey, parts that included the wolves disappeared into the abyss. I was doing my best to counter that by profiling them, but it's not the same as Alice's visions and we all knew it, and felt it. "That you're going to want to pack for cold weather, Edward. I can't see where you are exactly, because you're taking off with that _dog_ this afternoon. But the storm that's coming seems particularly bad in that general area."

Edward nodded and looked over at me for confirmation and I nodded towards all the stuff I had gathered

"Got all the supplies you're going to need." I said, unable to keep the serious look off my face, I don't like being serious, I've had enough of that in my life, but unfortunately sometimes times call for it. I was also concentrating as hard as I could to keep the thoughts in my mind, my own, I focused on the storm, on everything but my anger towards my brother and Bella. "Don't worry about over-packing; you are going to need everything you can think of its not going to be pretty up in the mountains."

"Chris is right, it's going to snow." Alice warned

"At least three feet if not more." I added tossing a thick down coat to Edward for Bella "and it's going to be cold as all hell,"

Bella made a face

"Snow?" she said grimacing and I shrugged

"Can't control the weather Bella, believe me I would if I could."

"It's okay Chris, thank you for packing what you did, I appreciate it,"

I looked the pile over and sighed

"I wish it was more," I admitted aloud before looking at my brother _it is going to bloody cold up there Edward, I don't know if all this stuff is going to be enough for her. What are you going to do if the cold gets to much?_

Edward shrugged nervously and let me read his facial expression, he knew just as well as I did and was just as worried, but we had to stick to the plan, we all knew that. Bella would be safer up in the mountains away from the onslaught of newborns and definitely out of their scent range.

Edward was about to reply when the front door swung open gently, Esme and Carlisle standing there. Both my parents looked nervous for the upcoming battle, but were clearly trying to put on a brave face for all of us.

"Chris you ready?" Carlisle asked and I nodded, we had all decided that the family, minus Edward and of course Bella would go hunting to try and basically bulk up for the fight. Emmett had already mapped out some really good spots where some of the more predatory type critters are lurking, mountain lions, grizzly bears, and even some fisher cats, which are pretty rare around here, but apparently Em found some.

"Yeah, just need to get my sweatshirt," I replied, I headed upstairs and I was surprised to hear Bella's footsteps behind me, I turned when I reached the top of the stairs and looked at her expectantly "everything okay Bella?" I asked she nodded

"Chris I just wanted to say thank you,"

I raised an eyebrow

"For getting the camping gear?" I asked "it really wasn't a big deal, most of it we already had and the rest I just had to shoot down to Newton's to get."

"Not the camping gear, just, just being you."

"Huh?" I'm not used to being confused, especially when it concerns Bella, she's really easy to read at least for my profiling ability, but in a rare time I was struggling to read her, had my frustration and anger been loud enough that it showed in my body language? Had Bella picked up on that? I always do my best to make sure no one can profile me unless I want them too, but I felt like I had lost a little strength on that if Bella was able to read me.

"I just don't think I've ever told you thank you for always looking out for me, you've been like a little brother to me and I've never told you how much it means to me."

I took a deep breath, in the back of my mind I felt a little bad for my anger, but I wasn't going to admit I was wrong because I know I wasn't. So I did what my second instinct is, when retreating and avoiding is out of the question, I pulled an Emmett and pulled humor into it.

"Sheesh Bella, that sounds like you're sending me off to the trenches." I said, putting on as goofy a grin as I could muster.

Bella clearly wasn't fooled because she gave me a stern look

"I'm serious Chris, please be safe tomorrow, I know you and Emmett are all excited about this thing" one of us more than the other I thought carefully "but just look out for each other okay? Be safe, all of you."

"We will, Bella, it'll be fine you'll see, besides there's always that chance that the newborns will take one look at us and the wolves and hightail outta here, screaming the whole way." I added laughing a little, thinking to myself _bloody fat chance_.

There was no way the newborns were going to retreat, let alone do it screaming. My stupid prediction did get a smile out of Bella, she hesitated for a second, clueing my ability in on what was about to happen as she reached forward to hug me tight.

I let her, gently patting her back until she let me go, there were tears in her eyes and I really felt like she was bringing me my last meal or something.

"I'm sorry Chris," she murmured and I tilted my head, wondering what she was apologizing for, actually I was wondering if she realized her words and actions were not giving me a boost of confidence about the outcome of the battle.

I was also kind of hoping her apology was directed at her benching Edward, maybe she had realized what kind of decision that really was. But I knew deep down that had nothing to do with it, she was apologizing for her Debbie Downer routine, that was all, her face was all the proof I needed, my ability figured it out and I sighed a little.

Before she could explain herself I gave her a reassure smile and nodded

"It'll be fine Bella you'll see, it'll work out perfectly."

Pretty sure she wasn't convinced, I continued down the hall to my room, Chap went nuts the minute I walked in, I felt like I hadn't seen him in years and clearly he felt the same way because he began squeaking and rattling his cage. I popped open his door and let him run up my arm, it could only be for a moment, but we both needed each other for the time being.

With Chap riding my shoulder, I went to my closet and pulled out an old sweatshirt, one that I wouldn't mind if it got soiled. Emotions or not I was going to find a grizzly bear tonight, I needed it. Chaplin stuck his nose in my ear sniffing and I gently swatted him away, slipping him a sunflower seed as we passed my desk.

I glanced at my computer's clock and rubbed my temple, Alice was sure that the newborns would be arriving at the clearing in the afternoon, three, maybe four in the afternoon, she couldn't be completely sure, the overcast Forks' weather made it tough to use the sun to determine the time, at least that had been her reasoning. Whichever time they decided to grace us with their presence, didn't matter, in less than twenty-four hours the battle would commence and I seriously wasn't feeling good about it. I was really hoping, really praying that my hunch was wrong.

Chaplin was not happy when I slid him back into his cage, but he got over it when I gave him a handful of sunflower seeds, he can be bought which is seriously amusing.

Pulling on my sweatshirt I made my way back downstairs, where the family was waiting. Esme held out her arm and without hesitating I walked over to her, sliding in next to my mother.

Without a word, we went outside, breaking into a run as we headed north to hunt. Esme's arm let go of me, but she did take my hand instead.

As the lights from the house grew smaller in the distance I thought about Bella's apology and about my own feelings. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't see Bella's side of this whole thing, I still thought it was selfish.

Xxx

The first grizzly Emmett found wasn't much of a challenge for my brother in fact since it refused to fight him, Emmett relinquished it to me. Jasper had found a mountain lion and with Edward home, had decided to take that for himself, which left Emmett and I fighting over the bear.

Everyone could tell there was something bugging me, Jasper tried a few times to get it out of me, but I put on a brave face and avoided his integration. Avoiding Jasper is not an easy task, he could read my emotions he knew something was really wrong with me and it frustrated him that I wouldn't tell him. Jasper and I have had this understanding for a long time about talking to each other, in some aspects we tend to think alike so our first instinct is to bounce ideas off of one another.

If something is bugging me and Jasper senses it he doesn't pry, he knows in time I'll probably come to him and talk it over with him, so for me not to do just that, he knows it's pretty big and it's one of the few times he will push and pry if only to make sure I'm okay. Esme is the same way, Jasper is just easier to avoid.

The bear that wasn't giving Emmett the fight he was looking for was unfortunately the only bear in the immediate area and trust me, we looked. So I did what I'm normally completely against doing, I helped Emmett tick the bear off.

It was not as easy as it sounded, this bear was basically the equilviant of Winnie The Pooh, nothing seemed to bug it, when Em tackled it, it simply shook the dirt out of its fur and sauntered off.

Not to be deterred, Emmett went at it again, then I followed, between the two of us and five minutes of basically annoying the bear, it finally responded and took a swipe at Emmett with its claws.

Emmett cheered loudly and flicked the bears nose with his fist which caused the bear to growl in response and lunge at my brother.

"All right! Way to go Dr. Doolittle!" Emmett shouted tackling the bear as they began to wrestle on the forest floor, taking out trees and stumps.

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help chuckling at my brother's antics, as rotten as I was feeling, watching my brother act like his ususal insane self almost made me forget why we were really out in the woods.

Carlisle and Esme joined us just as Emmett had decided enough was enough and had put the poor enraged bear out of his misery, snapping his neck.

Esme came right over to me, ignoring Emmett for the time being, she pushed back my bangs and gave me a look.

"Christian you haven't hunted yet?" this was more of a statement than an actual question, I shrugged "Christian," she warned

"I will Mum, just waiting for Usari the Bear Handler over there to finish up, I'll get the left overs." I explained, I'm not really one for bear fighting, the emotions tend to get the better of me and turns the situation extremely uncomfortable for me and potentially dangerous for those around me.

"Usari?" Rose asked coming up from behind us, she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and leaned so her head was resting on top of mine "who is Usari?"

"Famous bear handlers that's their literal translation from Romanian, they were grouped with Romani,"

"Gypsies?"

I nodded

"I remember, my family was in Paris for a few days, my dad had a medical conference or something and instead of leaving my mother and I behind he decided to take us on a short holiday. There was a group of Romani not far from the hotel we were staying at, I remember my father taking me to go watch their performance and there was a man there who had this great big black bear who was trained to do all sorts of tricks. He even had the bear playing checkers. Tame as a dog. It was quite amazing, especially for me, I was only seven. Outside of the London zoo I had never seen a real bear before at least not that close."

"Anyways, back to the topic of discussion Christian," Esme spoke up "make sure you have enough sweetie, all of us need to be at full strength tomorrow."

Don't worry mum, I know, I will be."

"Christian, is something bothering you?" Esme asked softly tucking my hair behind my ears

"No, of course not,"

"Thinking about tomorrow?"

Realizing this would be the best way to deflect her questions, I nodded

"A bit mum," I lied carefully, normally lying to Esme is tougher than getting Rose to hold Chaplin, but I must have been pretty convincing because she let it go, though I could see it wasn't going to be something I could keep from her for long.

Alice came skipping over to me, smiling the first real smile I'd seen on her in a few hours. She grabbed my hand, giggling.

"Hi Alice," I said looking at my mother and sister who shrugged, smiling. "What's up?"

"Guess what I found!" Alice said in a sing song voice "guess, guess, guess!"

"What is it Alice?" I replied

"You have to guess," She argued stubbornly and I rolled my eyes, sighing.

"Fine, you saw that the newborns took a wrong turn and went right into Volterra?" I guessed and she looked downtrodden for a second, but shook her head

"Nope,"

"To bad,"

"Keep guessing,"

Carlisle came up to us, sliding his arm around Esme's waist, she looked up at him and he kissed her.

"Alice honey, just tell him," Carlisle said gently, smiling,

Alice pouted a little, crossing her arms over her chest for a second.

"Fine," she replied "I found something you're going to love,"

Realizing I wasn't going to get a straight answer from Miss Stubborn here, I let her drag me through the woods away from the rest of the family. She reached up and covered my eyes with her hands for a few steps,

"Alice where are we going?" I asked

"Just a few more steps Chris, almost there," she explained and I rolled my eyes again. We stopped and I could hear Alice giggling behind me. "Okay, on the count of three, you can look." I'm used to my sister doing this, it's not new and I learned early on that's always best to just go with it.

"Right, got it Alice,"

She flicked my ear gently and I chuckled

"One, two," she paused for a few seconds "three!"

She pulled back her hands and I blinked, letting my eyes adjust, it took me only a second to realize what Alice had found.

Standing about fifty yards away from us, grazing and completely unaware of our presence, was the biggest, meanest looking moose I have ever seen.

"Bloody hell," I mumbled, my mouth dropping open in shock. Alice giggled behind me clapping her hands. "It's not the right season, they aren't usually around here right now, what the heck?"

"Don't question it Chris, just go enjoy." Alice replied ruffling my hair, I turned around and hugged my sister tight.

"Thanks sis," I said and let her go, quietly creeping towards the moose. It had no idea I was coming, it didn't even look up from its grass, it just kept eating.

I took a deep breath, crouched down low and lunged at the moose. It was surprised and seriously who could blame it as it began bucking and throwing its head around trying to get me off, but I wasn't giving in, I was hanging on as tight as I could trying to get my arms around the thick neck.

It fell down trying to squish me under its weight, but I rolled with it and took full advantage of the moose's mistake. Using its weight against, I body slammed it hard, the sickening snap as its neck broke, a combination of my granite body and its own weight.

The pair of us crumbled to the ground in a heap. I took a deep, calming breath and used my strong fingers to rip into the fur and skin, giving myself the opportunity to drink, it was what I needed, it made me feel a lot better. Even as I sated my thirst, my mind was still racing, I still couldn't shake the anger, I still couldn't shake the fear I was feeling.

When you're a vampire, time moves pretty slowly, I mean lifetimes go by you in what can feel like an instant, but your own personal life changes so little it's like time is standing still. For once in my life though, time seemed to be speeding up as Saturday crept closer and no moose was going to change that, nor would it make me feel any better.

xxx

A/N: Okay guys! Just giving you a heads up, we're getting close to the end of the Eclipse version of this series, the last few chapters I'm extremely proud of, they were actually some of the first chapters I ever wrote for this entire series. I will let you guys know when the last chapter is coming but sadly it will be soon. The next few chapters there also may be some er, hate directed towards me and I'm apologizing in advance for what is coming if there is any discontent among you guys, just trust me when I say I have a method to my madness and it will all work out. In the end you guys will enjoy what's coming and will understand my madness, you just have to deal with the insanity a bit I promise and of course that means the Breaking Dawn version is fast approaching, which by the way as with this fic and the New Moon version I am employing you guys to help me with the title for Breaking Dawn, any suggestions will be welcome!

As always thank you for the support! You guys are so important to me!

Till next time!


	28. Chapter 28

Xxx

We got to the field way ahead of the wolves, just to survey the battlefield get a feel for it. Granted we'd been doing that for the last few days, but today it was more important, today…we would actually fight.

Everyone stayed close, especially close to their spouse. I kind of hovered in between my siblings and my parents, I was using my ability to try and 'see' how this whole thing would play out and trying desperately not to profile my family. There was so much written on their faces that it was overwhelming, no one looked hopeful which was the worst part of this whole thing, even Jasper looked nervous.

It sounds ridiculous but even the atmosphere around us, the bloody air felt oppressive, felt like death. I can remember listening to my grandfather's stories about when he was enlisted in the British army as a twenty something year old…or even the stories his grandfather told him how he could always tell what kind of day the battle would end on just by looking at the sky just by feeling the air. He said there were two types he most remembered, one that assured victory and one that assured death…

I felt Jasper come up behind me and tap my shoulder, I looked over at him and he gestured for me to follow him, not far from our family, but far enough from real ear shot.

"Jaz?"

"Chris your emotions are pretty hard to ignore, I just wanted to check on you, make sure you're okay."

"I'm about as okay as I'm going to be Jasper. You can feel it?" I asked him looking up at the sky for a second before looking at him.

He took a deep breath, rubbing his chin thoughtfully before nodding

"Of course I feel it Chris, it feels like war."

"I was in the middle of the bloody London Blitz, I know what war feels like, it never felt like this." Jasper gave me a half smile, he put an arm around my shoulder as he moved to my side, now we were facing our family. "Sorry Jasper," I said softly "I didn't mean to snap like that."

"It's understandable Chris…but you have to remember, there's a difference between the war you experienced, bombings every night, constant threat of death every day…and the kind of war we're about to face." I nodded, I understood what he was talking about, but it still felt wrong, I had never felt this before. "This is the kind of feeling I would experience standing on the front lines, lined up across from the Union cannons and the Yankee soldiers, their guns aimed at us, our guns aimed at them. Waiting, waiting for the order to fire, never knowing which side would give it first, never knowing if the men standing on either side of you would make it back to camp or if you would, but you knew at least one of you would be dead soon." Jasper paused and hugged my shoulders in a brotherly gesture, trying to calm my fears "I'm not minimizing what you experienced during the blitz Chris, I would never do that, I faced war, you faced pure terrorism. I wanted to be where I was, you had no choice in the matter."

"I would've chosen to fight." I reminded my brother and he nodded "it was my war too, I had the right to defend my nation. I was just too young."

"I know you would've. Look Chris this fight, we both know it's not going to be pretty, and I know as much as Emmett has glorified this for you, you're still scared."

I looked at my brother sharply, my blue eyes glaring into his yellow ones, he didn't seem deterred by this. Even though Jasper knows I can fight, he also knows it's hard to take me serious.

"I'm not scared Jasper, they're attacking us, we're defending our home, our friends, our lives. This is the Battle for Britain, it's Dunkirk and the battle for France, only this time the home team will win, the bloody invaders won't. It be like if the Germans did manage to make it to London, we would've fought 'em, we would've crushed them."

"Chris, we both know I can sense the fear in you, you're trying to hide it, but it's all over you."

I looked away from him, I couldn't look him in the eyes anymore because he was right, I was scared, not for my own life, but for the lives of my family.

"We have nothing to fear but fear itself, didn't your Roosevelt say that?" I asked and Jasper nodded

"Look kid, I didn't pull you over here to make you admit that you're afraid, you don't need me to tell you that."

"Then why Jasper?"

"I've seen you fight, we both know you're a good fighter because you're a smart one. Just remember that, size doesn't always matter. I'm willing to bet you're smaller than the newborns, use that to your advantage, work with Emmett, they may not even bother with you at first. Let them think that then show them their mistake. I've seen small opponents take out larger and stronger ones just by using their size against them."

I nodded. I was about to answer him when I heard a stick crack in the woods, at first I thought it was the newborns, earlier. I looked closer though, I could see the glowing yellow eyes, the pack had arrived. I looked up at Jasper and nodded towards the woods

"They're here."

"Good," he replied "and good they're staying in the woods. It'll be the element of surprise we need, the newborns will never expect them, they won't even know the wolves exist."

"Jasper?" I asked softly

"Yeah?"

"How many battles have you been through like this?"

"With a newborn army attacking an older coven?" he asked and I nodded "only a few times before, never with this kind of number." I felt my panic rising again "this kind of number on the older coven's side and certainly never one with an army of werewolves helping out." He finished grinning "it'll be fine Chris, we'll be fine."

We moved back to our family, I could still feel the pack watching us, waiting for the moment when they could attack. I could feel their anxiety, their excitement…they were just as nervous as we were, just as scared, just as worried.

Alice suddenly went stiff as we spread out in one long row, we all looked at her quickly and she nodded, confirming her vision. We looked at one another, silently wishing each other luck and even more silently telling each one of our family that we loved them, before we looked towards the woods opposite the pack, a flash of clothing, the rustling of trees…the newborns had arrived.

xxx

The newborns were relentless, not to mention stupid. They had obviously been trained to fight our kind, but their training had only covered one lesson: killing. They ignored the basic instinct that all of us have and use to survive.

It didn't matter how many we killed, how many screamed as we tore them apart they just kept coming, none of them not one even begged for mercy as we tossed them onto the fire.

Everywhere Emmett and I looked, they ran at us. For every one that Emmett destroyed, three more took its place. Me on the other hand, it was like I wasn't worth their time, it didn't matter how many I personally destroyed; they wanted nothing to do with me.

Until one guy in his late 20s made a vital error in judgment; he went for Esme. My mother can protect herself just fine, but she was distracted, she had her attention on the bonfire we had blazing and trying to keep each one of us in her line of sight, she wasn't paying attention to her back.

"MUUUUUUM!" I screamed.

Carlisle heard my shouts and looked up, his face contorting into fear as he saw what I had. He started running towards his wife as did I, but not only was I closer, I'm much faster.

Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion and fast forward at the same time, Esme turned at my shouts, concern for my safety and unaware of her own, there wouldn't be enough time for her to react, he was reaching for my mother, he was getting closer.

Just as he reached out to grab her, I slammed into the larger vampire, hitting him in the middle. The sound of our bodies colliding echoed throughout the field as I forced him to the ground.

The newborn let out an angry growl as he recovered from the shock of being attacked by someone he had brushed off as unworthy.

He outweighed me by at least 100 pounds and he used that factor to his advantage as he lifted me up and slammed me into the ground so hard that when he lifted me to do it again, the outline of my body was left in the ground.

I could read the training all over his face, whoever had trained them knew what he or she had been doing. But I could also see what was missing: his previous life, who he was, all bits of humanity had been forced out of them, they were nothing more than robots, trained killing robots.

Carlisle reached us and tried to pull the larger vampire off of me, but he sent my father flying with a strong back hand.

"Carlisle!" I shouted, concern for my father's safety overshadowing concern for my own wellbeing.

"Chris hold on we're coming!" Carlisle shouted jumping back to his feet and running towards us again,

"Chris!" Esme sobbed

"No I got him" I tried to reassure my family. For some reason that ticked the newborn off, he held onto the collar of my tee-shirt, reaching for my neck as a deep growl erupted from his throat.

I grinned victoriously; I had found some something human left in him…vengeance. He wanted me dead and would stop at nothing to achieve that for whatever reason, I knew I could work with that need, I had already pissed him off, and wanting me dead would blind him and force him to make a mistake.

My family continued to fight to get near me, through the sea of newborns that blocked them, I could hear Rosalie screaming my name and Esme shrieking it.

The newborn was distracted by all the screaming as he reached for my neck again; as he came closer I sunk my teeth deep into his hand.

He screamed out in pain and jumped back. This was the chance I was waiting for. All the times I had wrestled with my brothers, all the practice was for this moment, all the goofing off we had done showing off for Bella and the wolves, this was it I was about to put my ability and confidence to the ultimate test. Jasper's warnings about making sure a newborn never gets their arms around you echoed in my head as I profiled my next move and took it.

I leapt to my feet and dove at him, once again knocking him to the ground. He may have outweighed me, but surprise and my small size actually gave me the advantage.

This lasted about thirty seconds as he rolled over me and once again tried for my neck. My parents and sister were still fighting to get to us as the number of newborns blocking them continued to grow.

These particular newborns weren't fighting my family, actually their focus was on my battle with their buddy, some were just watching, others seemed like they wanted to help, but my family wasn't letting any of them near, both sides were trying to prevent the other side from interfering.

I could still hear my family calling to me, they wanted to help, but I wanted to do this on my own…but I was quickly learning that there was no way I would be able to push the newborn off of me, I wasn't tiring, but I was more occupied with keeping him from getting a hold of my neck…which he seemed to be focused on.

Suddenly I felt a wave of emotions slam through me, but before I could sort them out, a dark shadow appeared in my peripheral vision.

It leapt over me ripping the newborn off of me. I had no idea what was going on, Emmett darted over and grabbed me, pulling me to my feet, literally throwing me towards Esme's waiting arms.

I thought for a moment that someone in my family had done it, maybe Jasper while Emmett got me, but when I looked over to where the shadow had gone, my eyes went wide with surprise, it was a wolf.

I watched as he ripped the newborn's head clean off and tossed it to the fire. I stared at the wolf, wondering who it was…as I took in the markings, the color of the fur, then the eyes. The wolf looked up at me and my mouth dropped open in shock.

Jacob, Jacob had just risked his own life to help me…why?

We exchanged a look as I silently thanked him, he nodded his acceptance and took off towards the rest of the pack.

Quickly, Emmett darted over and threw the remainder of the body on the fire. It roared with satisfaction, hungry for more bodies, which it would unfortunately get.

Esme grabbed me and pulled me close to her body, her face was paler than usual and I could see her body shaking.

"My god…Chris are you all right?" she asked looking me over carefully, checking me for any damage and sighed with relief at seeing no marks on me, not even a scratch. The only sign of my altercation lay in my shredded clothing. "Christian?" Esme repeated my name "Christian!" she rubbed my arm gently trying to get my attention "Carlisle, I think he's in shock."

Ah yes…Esme's conclusion for my occasional space outs, Chris has gone into shock, technically a vampire cannot, but since my space outs usually only occur when something stressful or dangerous happens to me, Esme's has decided that I go into shock.

She passed me over to Carlisle, who looked me over. Esme had looked me over as a mother, Carlisle did it as a doctor, he snapped his fingers in front of my face a few times and both sighed with relief as I blinked instinctively.

"Chris?" Carlisle now called my name and both sighed again as I looked up at him, a sure sign that my space out was coming to an end.

Esme hugged me tight, refusing to let go, she held me so tight that let's just say I don't need to breathe to survive.

"Oh Chris thank you," she murmured stroking the back of my head.

"Rosalie?" Carlisle called to my sister who came running. She too hugged my shoulder, before looking at our father. "Rose, take Chris home now." He said firmly "please"

She nodded, eager to agree, but I wasn't going without a fight. I would not run away and hide. I narrowed my eyes at Carlisle for even suggesting that, he returned the look, the stern look of my father. But I did not care.

"No!" I hissed "I'm fine!" to prove my point I pulled off what was left of my shredded tee shirt and threw it onto the roaring fire, the firelight grew for a moment and danced on my bare chest, reflecting and sparkling a bit like sunlight.

"Chris, it's not being cowardly," Rosalie whispered, trying to calm me down.

"Yes it is!" I shot back, "and we are wasting time arguing, I am not leaving you guys, I will not abandon my family." I finished crossing my arms against my chest stubbornly.

Carlisle and Esme exchanged a look, a conversation going between them without words. They looked over at Rose and Emmett, before looking at me again. Fine…if my parents were going to insist on Rosalie taking me home than they were going to have to send Emmett along to carry me 'cause that was the only way I was going to leave.

"Emmett." Esme finally spoke up, her voice full of uncertainty. "Emmett you keep him close understood?" my brother nodded "Christian I am not happy about this, but I will ALLOW you to stay on the condition you stay with your brother do I make myself clear?"

I nodded as well

"Yes ma'am." I replied, "I promise."

But the conversation did not go any further… as what was left of the newborns attacked. But instead of going for Emmett, their attention was on me and I had the feeling that I had just fought and had a direct hand in the death of a high ranking well liked member of this newborn army.

They attacked all at once. Four came at me all and I had to duck and roll to get out of the way. I managed to kick two of them hard in the shin, easily knocking their feet out from under them.

The third jumped in the air and tried to land on top of me. But I anticipated this and brought my knees close to my chest and just as he fell on me, with near perfect timing, my sneakers met his chest.

I used the leverage to ricochet him back. He lost his balance and landed right in the fire and I heard the first real bit of humanity out of any of the newborns as he screamed in pain begging for mercy.

I felt a shiver run down my back as Emmett took the other two and threw them onto the fire as well, right on top of their still screaming comrade.

I felt a swell of anger rush through my body. All these newborns had been people; they had been someone's son or daughter, brother, sister, friend, boyfriend, girlfriend. They'd had this life forced on them, they were not given a choice in the matter, they just simply had their lives destroyed.

Carlisle had given me the choice to become a vampire, he had laid out the options and I had chosen to enter this life…willingly.

I had been dying, there WAS only death as my alterative to becoming a vampire, either way I was giving up my home…my family…my life.

Not one of these people had been given that choice, and they weren't exactly grownups, nearly all these were teenagers, my sibling's age, some only a few years older than me.

I could read it all over their body language, they were robots all stuck on the same remote, but the more I fought them and the more I watched them fight, one part of humanity began to stand out…one that had remained with them…Hate.

They were understandably pissed but their anger wasn't directed at ones actually responsibly for their enslavement (Victoria and the one who had been in Bella's house) they were pissed at us, as if this was all our fault, they were fully prepared to take us down.

Maybe they had been lied to, maybe they had been promised their human life back if they gave full cooperation, one round of deployment and then no more tours…impossible yes, but if they were kept in the dark as I believed they were then why would they doubt their leaders. And if that's what they were told, freedom is worth fighting for, kill or be killed… freedom and you're life back can be worth any price, even if that price is murder of complete strangers.

Or maybe this was what they were taught; this was the only life for our kind, night after night of endless killing.

This was a war and though I didn't agree with the premise of it and though I felt for the newborn's situation, it didn't change the fact that they were here to kill Bella and we were here to protect her, she is our sister, she is one of us.

I was running to Emmett who was struggling with two newborns that were equal to his size, as a third prepared himself to ambush my brother…

I leapt into the air and landed on the newborn's back. It was just as I had done to Emmett when we had demonstrated my ability to Bella and the wolves…so Bella could stop being worried about Alice and I getting hurt.

Emmett had been overconfident, just like this newborn, and even with Jasper and Edward's help, even with me blindfolded; I had shown to Bella and the wolves that I am just as dangerous as my brothers are.

The newborn screamed bloody murder and tried to reach for me, but I held fast as he did all that he could to shake me off his back.

Emmett heard the howls and the screams and turned to see what was going on, just as I took hold of the newborn's head and with one sharp jerk, ripped it clean off with a sickening snap.

I jumped off as the body slumped to the ground. I lifted the body up and easily tossed it to the flames, I could still hear the sound of the neck snapping running over and over in my mind and try as I might it would not go away.

Emmett and I exchanged a look which lasted a split second as I suddenly felt a twinge, alerting me to an ambush, just as somebody slammed into me. I hit the ground hard and instinctively grabbed for my attacker's arms; I had to keep them from grabbing my neck. My hands moved up my attacker's arm and grabbed hold of their shoulders holding them back from me.

When my eyes focused on my attacker I couldn't help but stare…it was a girl, who physically couldn't be much older than me; fourteen, fifteen tops.

Unlike her comrades, she looked scared, not angry, if we could actually produce tears, I'm certain she would have been crying, hysterically. She hadn't been running at me to take me down, she had been running to find a place to hide and I had gotten in her path.

I stared into her eyes, using them as the basis for my profile. It was exactly as I had feared…they had been instructed to kill whoever gets in the way, keep the strange yellowed eyed ones occupied and you will be rewarded.

So that's why they had ignored me, it had nothing to do with a matter of worthiness, it was because I didn't meet the description they had been given.

The girl was so easy to read, all the others had managed to keep their body language hidden from me for the most part, but this girl it was like she didn't care about that.

We had been tricked, the real fight wasn't here in the clearing with the newborns it was in the woods, where Edward and Jacob had hidden Bella, with only Edward and the youngest of the pack Seth for protection…Seth the only member of the pack who didn't see me as threatening and I got the feeling wants to be friends, if only because he's as curious about vampires as I am about the werewolves.

My god…they were in danger…

"CARLISLE! JASPER!" I shouted, spooking the girl for a moment, her nails dug into my shoulder, so much that I actually felt it. "EMMETT!"

Within seconds my father and brothers were in my line of sight. The girl and I stared at each other our eyes boring into each other's. I've never felt this before…it felt as if my heart, silent for nearly seven decades, would suddenly start beating again, if only briefly to skip a few beats.

I suddenly understood what my family did, what I had profiled on each of the couples that made up my family, what I had profiled, but had not understood or felt for another…From Carlisle and Esme right down Edward and Bella…love…the desire to protect.

It's not the same kind of love I have for my family, it's similar of course, but at the same time very different. I also don't think it's the same kind of love that each member of my family has for their other half, but the potential is there.

Alice had promised me I would understand someday soon what Edward was going through when Bella first came into our lives and now I finally did…because I have no idea why, but I felt it for this girl. I don't think it was the kind of love where you see the person and you know they are your other half, each member of my family has experienced that so I guess I'm a pretty good judge of it. That wasn't what I felt for this girl, I just felt like I had to protect her, she was so scared, looked so helpless. She needed someone to look out for her.

Carefully I moved so I had her pinned down to the ground, though she was a newborn and therefore very strong, I was in a better position now.

She was about to scream, but luckily my ability helped me foresee it, I quickly used one hand to clamp it firmly over her mouth, her eyes went wide with fear and I knew I had to calm her and fast.

"My name is Chris," I said softly "I am not going to hurt you, you need to trust me, I know you are very frightened and confused, but I need you to find it in yourself to trust me. I will protect you for as long as I am able but in order for me to do that you need to have complete trust in me." At first I didn't think she believed me, but she blinked once and I felt her body relax under my own. She trusted me, good.

Suddenly, I was pulled off of her with such force I thought it was another newborn. I was prepared to defend myself, defend the girl…protect her at all costs to my own life.

xxxx

A/N: Okay guys a couple of things, first of chapter 28 and chapter 29 go together, it was an extremely long chapter and I felt it best to split it. I will not be uploading chapter 29 until Friday thereabouts, it is all written and ready to go, but I've been really good with not really having cliffhangers in this fic so guess what you guys have one!

Secondly, this is the third to last chapter of the Eclipse version, which means we have two more chapters before this particular fic will be complete and we move onto Breaking Dawn.

I am very proud of this particular chapter and it's split counterpart because it was actually one of the first things I wrote for my Twilight series, I remember sitting in class writing this chapter while I waited for the professor to come in to start class, and it filled up almost my entire notebook. I had lost the loose-leaf papers for a while and then was able to find them a month or so later much to my relief. So I wrote this chapter long before the movie came out and long before the short story 'Second life of Bree Tanner' was published, I had an image of Bree in my head and as you will see with the next chapter I kind of stuck with my original image and made only a few slight adjustments to fit the short story and the movie.

Lastly, as I've said a few chapters before, there is a good chance that in the final chapter you guys might hate me, please hold your pitchforks and torches until the Breaking Dawn version is up and running, I promise that first chapter will be up the week AFTER chapter 30 is posted so you guys will not have to wait long.

Mackenzierose157 was nice enough to suggest some titles and I may play around with those to see how they sound, you guys have heard it from me enough times, especially those of you who have been reading this series since I first posted The Sun never Sets way back, wow almost two years ago, to quote Chris, bloody hell...anyways you guys know titles are not my strong suit, so Mackenzierose157 thank you for your suggestions, the more the better. I owe you guys!

Okay enough out of me, this is way to long as it is. So hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, next one will be up by the weekend and the final chapter sadly will be up the following week! Take care everyone!


	29. Chapter 29

Luckily I stopped to look before I attacked.

It was Carlisle.

My father and brothers had misunderstood my calling for them, they thought I needed help, Emmett and Jasper grabbed the girl and held onto her tight. She let out a blood curdling scream and clawed at my brothers trying to get loose.

"Are you ok?" Carlisle repeated over and over, but I could barely hear him, I was trying to get the girl's attention, if I could just get her to look me in the eye I might be able to calm her.

"Chris!" a sweet voice filled with panic called my name "Chris, Chris, Chris," she continued to call, but no one but me seemed to notice.

My brothers were dragging her to the fire, they were going to kill her. I had to stop them. I struggled to get away from my father.

"Emmett!" I called, my voice hoarse "Jasper…please….no! Let her go I beg of you! Let her go let her go!"

Both my brothers looked at me like I had lost my mind and maybe…I had…after all…I was defending someone who had come here as part of an army intent on killing my family.

"Chriiiiiiiiiiis!" she screamed and despite how strong my brothers are, they were struggling to hold onto her as they carried her closer to the crackling fire.

"Boys, wait!" Carlisle called, finally understanding what was going on, I knew he would, but up until he spoke, I hadn't even realized my father was holding me, nor did I realize I had been fighting to get away from his grasp.

The battle was winding down, the wolves were finishing off the remaining newborns, the girl was the only newborn still putting up a fight, but seriously, who could blame her.

I finally managed to catch the girl's eye. She looked at me pleading, before she let out one more mournful "Chris," before hanging her head in defeat.

Carlisle looked from me to the girl, before he spoke, he gave my shoulders a gentle squeeze.

"Chris," he said softly

"I…I can control her," I said softly "please Carlisle, trust me, she's beat, there is no fight left in her, there was none to begin with, she wanted nothing to do with this battle she only attacked me because I got to close to her hiding spot she was rushing to find a new one and I got in the way."

"Son, did you profile her?" I nodded "and?"

"It's the newborns…their decoys. They were sent here to distract us from the real fight. They think we're planning to attack them, to take their territory it's a bloody set up."

Carlisle's eyes went wide as he nodded.

"And the girl?"

Suddenly I couldn't answer, my mind had gone blank, all I could do was stare at her. Did I? Did I love her? How though, how can I feel this for someone who less than a minute ago had tried to kill me? A girl whose name I didn't even know. None of this mattered to me, none of this made sense.

I feel like I'm dreaming and having a nightmare all at once and for once I cant sort things out. I hate it when I am reminded of what it's like to not be able to profile…

"It's love," Esme's voice filled my ears, "Carlisle…look at the way she looks at him, he is her knight, her prince, he rescued her, oh Christian, my son." Her voice was so happy and I looked over at the girl, was Esme right? I know better than to doubt her…same with Carlisle, but he wanted to hear my words.

"Chris?"

"I can control her, she will listen to me," I replied, I didn't care about love or anything like that…at least not at that moment, I just wanted to protect this girl, help her.

My parents exchanged a look, once again a thought flashing between them with no words, killing the newborns had been tough on my parents, especially Carlisle. The chance to save one of them was too strong for Carlisle to ignore. Carlisle patted my shoulder and walked to the girl.

"Do you surrender?" he asked, his voice level, gentle, yet still authoritative. The girl whimpered and nodded slowly "what is your name?"

She looked up at him quickly, surprised by the simple question? Then I realized why, most of the newborns in the army never gave their real names, their second life was a chance to become someone new. I don't think any of the newborns she had been trained with had given their real names.

"It is all right sweetie, just your name." Esme said softly.

The girl looked my way and I nodded, encouraging her.

"B…B…Bree." She stuttered, as if so unaccustomed to saying her own name. She slowly smiled as if she was reconnecting with her name. "My name is Bree." She finished.

Carlisle returned the smile

"Good, my name is Carlisle," he paused and turned to me "Chris, come here please," Esme released my shoulders. I walked over to my father's side, "we will not destroy you, on the condition that you listen to what we tell you. Do you understand?" she nodded quickly, staring at me, before looking at my brothers wearily. "How much do you remember about what happened to you?"

Bree was quiet for a few seconds, I could see her working the situation out. She took a deep breath and I could hear the whimper in her again.

I didn't even think twice, I held out my hand to her, she looked at Carlisle for permission and when he nodded, she reached out and grabbed my hand tight, holding it as if it was her lifeline, her only lifeline.

"I was coming home from basketball practice…I remember I felt someone grab me from behind, then a burning pain, but I don't remember anything else. Just being around the others…" she looked at us pleading.

There was the look again, like she would cry if she was able to. I could tell she was lying about certain parts of that, which parts I couldn't be sure but she was hiding something though I think it was out of pure shame.

I remembered the newspaper reports, CNN and Fox, most of the missing teen and young adults were runaways, street kids, no ties, no family…I couldn't be sure, but I was willing to bet Bree was one of them, one of the unnamed, never reported missing people that the rest of the city sadly didn't care enough about.

I gave her hand a gentle squeeze,

"It'll come back," I reassured, lying through my teeth. Alice was still waiting for her memories to come back. There was a 99% chance that without help Bree would never learn about her human life. Her past would be easier than Alice's to uncover, but it wasn't a guarantee.

The transformation is the strongest memory most of us have…for some we forget it and everything that occurred before it. But again I'm pretty sure Bree remembered a lot more than she was saying, as if lying had been part of the newborn life too.

Alice had joined our group by now and I could see the smug look on her face, which was fighting with a glare at surprisingly Jasper, I raised an eyebrow and followed the glare to really look at Jasper, he looked worse than I had presumed I did. He was covered in bite marks and his clothes were destroyed.

Obviously Jasper had taken it as his responsibility to be everywhere, mainly of course making sure that Alice was out of harm's way and was paying for that.

"Idiot." Alice hissed before looking at Bree with satisfaction. But I saw a flash on her face, something was right and wrong about this. My sister had predicted a long while back that I would not be alone in our family of perfectly matched couples much longer, but she had flat out refused to go into more detail about it.

I knew by Alice's face this was the beginning of what she had seen, but as both of us have insisted to our family over the years, the future can always change…nothing is ever set directly in stone and it can change very quickly and I knew by her look, this was not how things would end up.

I suddenly felt a wave of pain wash over me, but it wasn't my own, it was Jacob, he was hurt. I had made it a point to remember each of the wolves, since they refused to meet with us in human form I had managed to get an excellent pinpoint of each of their feelings and how they react to certain emotions and at Bella's request I had kept in tune to Jacob especially.

The pain was so real, so intense, that it actually brought me down, doubling over as the entire pack's emotions hit me all at once.

I knew the pack was connected to one another and could read each other's thoughts as well as each other's emotions, the pain Jacob was feeling went through each member of the pack and since I was basically watching and waiting for their emotions, I got hit with backlash.

Bree tightened her grip on my hand, unsure what was going on as she looked around, frightened.

"Chris!?" Carlisle exclaimed, instantly he was at my side, looking me over, trying to make sure I was not hurt "Chris what is it?"

"It's not me…it's…the pack…"

I looked over at Carlisle quickly, he saw the panic and pain on my face and understood what was wrong.

"Who?" he asked

"Jacob, a newborn was hidden and attacked Leah, Jacob jumped in to help her and it crushed him badly. The pack killed the newborn, but he's hurt. I can feel it, I can feel the whole pack, it's their emotions, it's all pain and it's echoing through them and…me" I answered. Carlisle nodded "do you need me?"

"No," Alice spoke up "Edward is coming with Bella, someone needs to control Bree, someone she already trusts."

"It is all right Chris. Alice is correct. Explain to Bree as much as you can. If Jacob has returned to human form you will not be able to calm him and you are needed here." Carlisle paused and looked at my brothers "you can let her go." He ordered gently "but stay close. We don't know how much time has passed since she last hunted. If it has been a while and she reacts to Bella, Chris you may not be able to hold her. Do not take any chances." He paused and looked at each of us, Jasper, Emmett, and I all nodded as Carlisle shot off to the other side of the field to find Jacob.

Esme and Rosalie stepped forward slowly. I recognized their moves, their facial expression. This was how both had approached me all those years ago when I first was brought to my new family.

"Chris, maybe it would be best to take Bree home?" Rose suggested.

I shook my head

"No, she needs to experience Bella's scent. The more she is exposed to it the better she will be at resisting it. I'd rather that now when we are all here to restrain her if we have to."

I looked over at Jaz, if he told me it was a bad idea I would go by his judgment. I trust Jasper over everything, including my own feelings.

All eyes were on Jasper, he walked over to Bree and I, she tensed and cowered into me, hiding her face in my bare neck.

"Look at me!" he commanded, not as gentle as Carlisle had been, but I'm sure more gentle then he had ever been when he had been the commander of a newborn army. "I said look at me!" slowly she pulled her face from my neck. I could feel her shaking, and she was instinctively breathing quicker. She looked at me, unable to look at my brother. Jasper saw this and knew he would never get anywhere this way. "Chris, let go of her."

At first I didn't, but like I said, when it comes to newborn vampires and controlling our kind in general, I trust Jasper completely.

"No, No, No!" Bree shrieked as I pulled myself from her grasp. I knew she would be ok, but it was not easy.

"Now!" Jasper started, he took hold of her shoulders and held them tight. Alice and Rosalie reached over and held me in between them, the three of us knew this would be easier once Jasper took control, but I felt like I was betraying her a bit. "You will look at me when I speak to you. In a few moments a human will be here. She has the smell of the sweetest blood you can imagine." He paused "you will NOT touch her, you will NOT go near her. The only reason you stand here is because of my brother. Newborns are dangerous and newborns who were turned to only fight are even more so. I do not agree with trusting those whose sole purpose is to fight and anyone else would have tossed you onto that fire while you are still alive. But I trust my brother and trust the care he has for you. To long he has been alone and had that care for someone. But if you force us to decide, we will protect our brother's human…whom you WILL not go near." He paused again "understood?"

"Yes," Bree whimpered again

"When she comes I will PERMIT" he put force on the word permit so Bree understood the control Jasper had. After all, following Carlisle Jasper is the oldest in our family and I saw it in Bree's eyes she saw him as second in command of this coven…she obviously didn't realize we were a family…as with most of our kind…the word family is foreign. "I will permit you to stay with my brother Chris." Her eyes brightened at my name "But I expect you to do what he tells you. If he says close your eyes and you hold your breath, you do not question it you simply do it." Jasper looked over at me and nodded. I bent over and in the grass drew a large circle around Bree and a line touching it just in front. "You will stay in that circle. If you move even a hair over that line I will destroy you myself."

Jasper looked at me his face full of sympathy, I knew he would do all he could to keep Bree alive, but if she put Bella at risk even I couldn't deny what had to be done.

Jasper released Bree and she reattached herself to my arm. Jasper had obviously frightened her as she clung to my arm, her nails digging into my skin, but I didn't pull away… for the first time in my life I felt complete…for the first time in my vampire life, I truly felt alive. I had someone I could protect, someone who needed me to protect them, I've never felt like that before.

I may want to do all I can to protect my family, but none of them right out need me to protect them… being the youngest, it tends to go the other way around, but Bree, she did need someone to protect her and she had picked me, she was letting me be her protector.

"He called you brother," Bree whispered so soft I nearly missed it "are you really? You don't look anything alike,"

I grinned. Better explain something's now, 'fore Bella arrives, it might make Bree understand things a little better.

"He is my brother, but not by birth" I paused "or blood" I added carefully "Carlisle, the man who just left," she nodded "he is the one who changed five of us, Edward who is coming here with the human, then Esme." I nodded my head towards my mother who was gazing lovingly at the pair of us "she was next to be changed. Carlisle married her soon after and she has become a mother to all of us, just as Carlisle has become a father to us. Then Carlisle changed Rosalie," Rose gave Bree a gentle smile and nodded "Emmett came next and he and Rosalie are married."

Em for once didn't give his maniacal grin, it was instead gentle and kind to which I was not only thankful…but owed him for.

Bree nodded as she began to understand the base for my story. Family. Love. Home.

"And you?"

I grinned

"I was last to be changed. Carlisle and Edward saved me after I had been nearly crushed to death."

"When?" she asked curious

"1940, during the second world war."

Now Bree's eyes went wide, I had originally thought that she assumed all of us had been changed recently, but now looking in her eyes I could see her surprise, not at my physical age but by my actual age. In fact if anything she had expected me to be older.

"1940?" she repeated "that means you're…you're"

"Eighty in December." Her mouth dropped "if it makes you feel any better, Jasper getting ready to celebrate his 164 birthday." I grinned, this didn't surprise her as much, again I think she saw the authority in Jasper… "and Carlisle is about 366." I paused and looked at her "what is it?"

"Riley…he told us that you were an old coven, that is why your ey…" she looked into my eyes apparently unsure how to compare my eyes to the rest of my family. "-Your eyes are different than ours, that old age had made your eyes that color. He told us that this was your territory and you would come after us for feeding in your territory, but you were old and would be weak, that your abilities were the only thing that would be dangerous."

I blinked in surprise and I wondered what other lies Bree had been fed; lies to keep the newborns somewhat under control, lies to assure loyalty, and a desire to fight.

"No Bree, my family's eyes are that color not because of age. We do not hunt humans." Her eyes went if possible wider.

"You don't feed?"

"I didn't say that," I sighed "we hunt animals. It keeps us satisfied and keeps us in control. We can lead relatively normal lives." I looked over at my family Esme looked so happy, as did Rosalie, Alice's sullen face was a little unnerving but I didn't pay attention to it. I brushed it off as her annoyance with Jasper. "Carlisle is a doctor, he works at a hospital, Esme is an amazing architect, we go to school. It gives us something to do, it's easy to go crazy sitting around doing nothing for twenty-four hours straight."

Bree seemed to smile and relax at the mention of such familiar, everyday human things.

"We can go to school and get jobs?"

I grinned

"Well, to be honest the only job you and I would ever be able to get is in the delivering papers industry." She returned my grin "we're seen as kids, that's why school is worth it. I mean it can get repetitive, but there are worse alternatives. You'll see."

Bree nodded, she still looked nervous and unsure, but at the same time she seemed comforted by my family's presence, for the most part everyone was looking at her gently, comforting (minus Jasper of course who was still on edge).

I still couldn't shake the pit in my stomach, it was gnawing at me, but I could ignore it for now. My feelings, my ability, my hunches, all have been wrong before, no part of my ability is perfect, nothing I profile is set in stone.

Xxx


	30. Chapter 30

Xxx

I was actually pretty impressed with Bree's resolve, she never even looked at Bella and Edward…but then again I was a little distracted by how Bella and Edward were entering the clearing…Edward carrying her because Bella was in fact unconscious.

I looked at Alice in surprise, I knew I couldn't leave Bree's side, the temptation, her newborn instincts would be too much and she would most likely attack and me kneeling next to her and Jasper's unwavering glare of authority were the only things keeping her grounded so to speak.

Even though I knew all this I couldn't help my concern for Bella, I may have disagreed with her decision to keep my brother out of the fight, but at the same time that didn't mean I wanted anything bad to happen to her.

When Alice couldn't give me an answer I went for the source, I looked at Edward hard as he gently put Bella down on the soft ground. At first he was focusing just on her, but then he seemed to notice the extra person in the area…he noticed Bree and his eyes went wide

"Chris what the hell are you thinking!?" He exclaimed and I growled at him, moving so I was right in front of Bree. "she's a newborn raised on human blood! Have you completely lost your mind!?"

_Probably_, I thought _not that it's any concern of yours_ he looked ready to pound me for that thought and I gave him a look that clearly said 'go ahead, I dare you'

"Edward," Carlisle said gently "the girl is innocent, she never wanted to fight us in the first place, she's a child, she was dragged into this. Listen to their thoughts, understand son, please."

At first Edward just glared at me, standing over Bella ready to destroy Bree if she even blinked towards Bella, but then slowly his own body relaxed, he seemed to understand and accept what was going on. He had played the dangerous game before and we had all stood by him through that and now it was my turn.

"Chris?" Bree whimpered, pulling my hand, I looked down at her and gave her as comforting a smile as I could muster. It wasn't easy, I still had a pit deep in my stomach, something still wasn't right…

"It's okay Bree," I whispered,

"Who is that?" Bree managed to ask, I could hear the strain in her voice, she was really fighting her instincts, Jasper seemed to sense that too because he shot her a glare and she winced away from him.

"That's my brother Edward," I answered, knowing she wasn't talking about Edward "and that's his…girlfriend." I didn't know how else to describe Bella, fiancé, mate… "Bella."

"She's not like us?" it wasn't a question more like a statement and I nodded

"Not yet, she will be soon."

I looked up when I heard Carlisle returning, he looked at the unconscious Bella and let Edward read his mind as he walked over to me.

"He's okay," Carlisle explained before I could ask and I nodded "he's healing, I will go back to him soon and see how things are progressing. Their healing factor is amazingly quick."

To be honest I wasn't sure why Carlisle was back with us this soon in the first place, I had expected him to stay with Jacob for a little longer. Then I looked over at Alice, I had been so focused on Bree, so concerned with her wellbeing I hadn't even noticed my sister…Alice looked away from me quickly and I stood up.

"Alice?" I asked, she was trying to keep something from me and she should know better, know that it won't work.

The newborns were all destroyed, the wolves were safe, our family was safe…what else could be concerni…I stopped mid thought, my eyes going wide as I looked at Edward. _No,_ I thought _they wouldn't…_

He nodded weakly

_Why?_ I thought _why the hell are they coming now?_ I really didn't need to ask that question, I knew the basic answer of course, it was the newborns, it was exactly as I had feared, the Volturi had hoped the newborns would take us out then they could swoop in and take out the newborns. But the newborn threat was eliminated…were they just coming to be sure or was there another reason for those dictators to be 'visiting.'

I looked down at Bree carefully then back up at Edward and Alice

_Who?_ I thought _Who is coming?_ I couldn't imagine Aro leaving his throne, nor Marcus or Caius, none of them would leave Volterra for just a simple "clean up", it had to be some of the guard, but who, that would determine my comfort level in this whole thing.

Felix and Demetri would be the most likely candidates, the brute force of the guard, but even so they weren't the brightest of the bunch. The true epitome of the phrase 'muscle'. If it weren't for his ability to track people, I'm sure Demetri wouldn't be able to find his way out of a paper bag. They're moronic prats in my mind…

Edward nodded, confirming those two idiots, but the look on his face sent a shiver down my spine. Alice had seen more than just Dumb and Dumber…

_Oh bloody hell no,_ I thought _please not…_

Edward winced at my thoughts and nodded slowly

Jane and Alec, of course they would come, Aro would trust them above everyone else in the guard.

"Alice how long do we have?" Edward asked, his voice tense and I knelt back down to Bree, trying to focus on my profile, trying to figure out a scenario that could end positively with not only the Volturi Goon squad coming, but my self-appointed Arch Enemy and Arch Stalker coming too.

Alec has hated me for decades and it's all because of his sister. Jane has had a crush…it's not even a crush it's a full out obsession with me since we first met in 1948. Getting out of Volterra and away from her that one time was tough, then a few years later I conceded to Aro's invite and returned to Volterra for a 'visit.'

Aro I can take with a grain of salt, he's a brilliant chess master and that is the ONLY reason I accepted the invite, we enjoy the competition and match up that we each provide during a chess game. It is during that time that I can see the man my father sees as his friend.

But when it comes time for me to return home, each time I have gone to visit the Volturi Jane always throws a tantrum, a full blown foot stomping, cursing tantrum, begging me to stay. After three times in a row of this behavior, I stopped visiting. I haven't been back to Volterra since 1960ish. Each time I had gone was that much tougher to get out and Carlisle and I came to the conclusion, the next time it might not be possible to leave, I was better off not risking it.

Alec is like an open book to read, he hated my guts the first time he met me because he was afraid I was going to take his sister away from him, believe me he can have her. But now he hates me for a completely different reason, he hates me because I 'hurt' his sister, that because I do not feel the same way about Jane as she feels about me I purposely hurt her.

The two of them are insane and it is the definition of a no win situation. I would rather face a hundred newborns, listen to my brother make fun of cricket, and go clothes shopping with my sisters, all at once mind you than be within breathing distance of Jane and Alec. And now they were coming here, bloody hell could this day get any worse.

I instinctively tightened my grip, forgetting momentarily that I was holding Bree's hand. I gave her an apologetic smile which she returned weakly.

Bella's scent was clearly overwhelming and I began to wonder if Rose had been right, maybe I should have taken Bree home…but then I thought that over, no I had to stay with my family, no matter what we stick together on this, especially if the Volturi were coming, they would not divide our family.

I knew Bree was controlled, between Jasper and I she was no threat to Bella, I just hated to see her hurting like this.

Bella woke up slowly and looked around, Carlisle and Edward explained Jacob's predicament to her and she seemed to take it in stride, clearly concerned for her friend, but trusting Carlisle's prognosis.

Then…she spotted Bree, her eyes going wide with surprise as she focused on the pair of us.

Bree's breathing became quick and I could almost hear the growls deep in her throat. I put an arm around her thin shoulders and whispered to her

"Shh, it'll be okay Bree, hold your breath, it'll be okay. That's it, just hold it."

"She surrendered to Chris." Edward explained to Bella "That's one I never seen before… Chris is protecting her, Esme is sure this is his one, he's not on the same page, but he is protective of her, the potential is there…the two of them are amazed by each other and have become attached." I rolled my eyes at my brother and then at the surprised look on Bella's face "only Carlisle would think of offering. Jasper doesn't approve, but he feels Chris's emotions and feelings towards the girl and is willing to give her a chance for Chris's sake."

"Is Jasper all right?" Bella whispered

"He's fine. The venom stings."

"He was bitten?" she asked

"He was trying to be everywhere at once. Trying to make sure Alice had nothing to do, actually." Edward shook his head. "Alice doesn't need anyone's help."

_That's for sure_ I thought and chuckled softly as Alice grimaced at Jasper, shaking her head.

"Overprotective fool" she muttered

I'm not sure what sparked it, but suddenly Bree threw her head back and wailed, I could feel her entire body tensing and shaking at the same time.

Jasper was instantly moving closer to us as I tried to calm her…

"Easy Bree…easy, hold your breath and it won't be as bad, trust me, you're doing splendid, it'll be okay." I said soothingly as Jasper growled at her.

Bree cringed and clung tighter to me, hiding her face against my body as her fingers dug into the ground like claws and her head whipped back and forth in anguish.

Jasper knelt down next to us, and Bree tensed, her fear of Jasper was an asset right now, but it would have to be rectified later on.

Carlisle put a calming hand on Jasper's arm, one that also acted as a restraint, he too knelt down next to Bree and me and made sure she was looking right at him.

"Have you changed your mind, young one?" Carlisle asked, his voice calm and collected, but I could hear the strain in it, he was afraid, afraid that we might not be able to save Bree if she threatened Bella. "We don't want to destroy you, but we will if you can't control yourself."

"Chris…" Bree wailed "how can you stand it?" she growled "I want her!"

"Bree, please," I whispered "fight it, you can fight it."

"You must stand it," Carlisle said, his rarely used authoritative voice made Bree wince. "you must exercise control. It is possible, and it is the only thing that will save you now."

Bree looked from me, to Carlisle, to Bella, then back to me, I nodded, silently begging her to fight it. She still had this wild look in her eyes, but she was calming down, sort of.

Her and Bella stared at one another and I could see the fear in Bella's eyes, not from Bree, that wasn't who she was afraid of, she was afraid of the being in front of her, almost as if she was looking into her own future.

Jasper stayed close by as the rest of the family moved into place, the Volturi were coming closer, and we could all feel it. Bella was at the center of the placement, protected by my family and I felt guilty that I wasn't standing there as well.

Normally I'd be right by Esme's side, but instead I stayed next to Bree, I had to protect her, even if that was to protect her from her own instincts.

When I looked at Bree I saw someone who was turned, brought into this life without her permission, I saw my family and those closest to us.

I saw Rose sitting here in Bree's spot, forced into this life without her consent, taking years to final forgive her creator.

I saw Alice sitting here with no memories of who she once was, no possible way of getting those memories back.

I saw Jasper's friend Charlotte, brought into this life only to fight in an army with the very real risk of being destroyed for that same reason.

I saw myself, I had been given the choice to enter this life and I had done so willingly, but Bree and I, we're roughly the same age, I could have been turned and forced to serve in an army.

Instead I was lucky, I was brought to Carlisle and saved by him. But Bree and I, our paths are only slightly different, there could have been a similar situation occurring in London, instead of nearly being killed by a gerry's bomb, I could have been attacked and changed by a vampire, set on creating an army, it is not inconceivable.

Lastly and probably most importantly, the main reason I was fighting so hard to protect Bree, I saw Marie sitting here next to me. They are the same age, this could be Marie sitting here, blood thirsty and that not only sent chills up my spin, but made me sick to my stomach, thinking of Marie in this situation.

I closed my eyes as I felt the footsteps growing closer, I hated to open my eyes, to see our visitors. I knew I would have to eventually, but I was not ready to, not ready to face them.

"Hmm," Jane's eerily gleeful voice murmured, rushing through me like a blast of cold air.

"Welcome Jane," Edward said.

I slowly opened my eyes, Jasper stood in front of Bree and I. At first I thought he was making sure he was in between Bree and Bella, but reading his body language I saw his reasoning, he knew my feelings, my fear of Jane and he was trying to block her view, trying to make me invisible to her. I couldn't be more grateful.

However, his protection didn't last, Bree, feeling the tension let out a mournful cry, which caught Jane's attention. The smirk on her face stabbed at me and I felt the whole world caving in.

"I don't understand," she said glaring at Bree

"She has surrendered," Edward explained, she turned her glare to him, her face flashing with anger

"Surrendered."

"Carlisle gave her the option,"

"There are no options for those who break the rules," Jane reminded us all, but it was mainly directed at me.

"That's in your hands. As long as she was willing to halt her attack on us, I saw no need to destroy her. She was never taught." Carlisle explained carefully.

The glare from Jane and now Alec continued and the gnawing feeling in my stomach became more present. I was starting to regret my decision to stay by Bree's side, but I couldn't leave her she needed protection…

"That is irrelevant" Jane insisted and Carlisle nodded

"As you wish,"

"Aro hoped that we would get far enough west to see you, Carlisle. He sends his regards."

"I would appreciate it if you would convey mine to him." Carlisle replied, Jane looked around Jasper and smiled at me and I took a deep calming breath, trying not to wince.

"Of course," Jane replied "and he sends his regards to you as well Christian, he insisted I mention you owe him a rematch."

I took a deep breath, I had been hoping to avoid speaking to Jane, but I nodded

"Of course, please tell him I remember and look forward to such a game, in the near future." I said, keeping my voice as calm as possible.

"It appears that you've done our work for us today…for the most part." Jane continued, her glare flickering at Bree, before looking at me for a moment. "Just out of professional curiosity, how many were there? They left quite a wake of destruction in Seattle. As well as further south our sources told us. A particular hiking trail in California was closed due to an influx in supposed lion attacks. Such amazing creatures' humans are, able to take something such as our kind and brush it off as an animal attack." Jasper and I exchanged a look, the wallets in the cave…of course the Volturi would know the source of that, and their spies were everywhere. "I'm sure you were aware of this event, it being this close to your territory?"

"Yes, we were aware." Carlisle replied. "There were eighteen, including this one."

Jane stared the fire for a moment, then she looked at me and I quickly averted my gaze. I hated to be put in my place by Jane, but this time it was necessary, this time I couldn't let my pride rule the situation.

"Eighteen?" she repeated as if she didn't believe it

"All brand-new," Carlisle explained "they were unskilled."

"All?" Jane asked, her voice was suspicious "who was their creator?"

A second passed, before Edward spoke up, he was trying to do the same thing I had been, trying to keep Jane's focus away from myself and Bree, Edward was trying to keep it off of him and Bella.

"Her name was Victoria," Edward explained.

Jane didn't miss the word 'was' her look confirmed for me that any inkling we may have had that the Volturi were pulling the strings, was not the case.

Bree whimpered next to me and I turned my attention to her, Edward explaining the events up on the mountain to Jane faded into the background. Even so, I could still feel Jane's eyes stabbing into me…she was restraining herself, but she was not pleased and it had nothing to do with my brother or the currently smoldering army of newborns.

I felt her gaze turn to Bree and I closed my eyes wincing, praying that Jane would let it go, just leave it be…even though deep in my heart I knew that would never be the case.

"You there!" she said loudly "your name,"

Bree winced back, trying to move as close to me as possible. I knew I had to protect her, but protecting her against Jane was a virtually impossible task.

I looked up at Jasper, the look in his eyes was not his determination to keep Bree under control, the look in my brother's eyes was concern…he wanted to get me away from Bree.

"Bree," I whispered, ignoring my brother's look "just your name, please, tell her your-" I was cut off mid word as Jane smiled her eerily sweet smile and Bree screamed in pain, squirming on the ground next to me as Jane's invisible attacks plagued her.

I was frozen, I couldn't move, couldn't help her. Bree's screams ripped through me and I swear I saw Jane smile even more.

Just as quickly as the screams began, they stopped, Bree pulled her knees up against her chest, making herself as small as she could, I still couldn't move, couldn't do anything to comfort her.

"Your name," Jane repeated the question

"Bree…" she whimpered and screamed again as Jane resumed her attacks.

"Jane stop!" I shouted

"She'll tell you anything you want to know!" Edward spoke up, much to my surprise he had been trying to keep Jane's attention away from him, but now he was willingly inviting it…he was trying to protect me, trying to keep Jane from focusing on me. "You do not have to do that." He added

"Oh I know," Jane replied smiling as she laughed, she looked right at me and her smile grew larger "it's fun to watch the result."

I felt sick to my stomach and knew I was putting Bree in danger, maybe if I moved…I knew she would freak out, but I also knew it was better for her…

Jasper seemed to sense that because he changed places with me, sort of. He stood nearby Bree and I moved away from her, her eyes went wide and she started to panic, but a glare from Jasper calmed her down as Jane began to integrate her. Asking how many had originally been in the army, who had created her, what they had been told and why they had attacked us in the first place.

Bree's explanation confirmed a lot for me and I kept exchanging a look with Edward who nodded indiscreetly. I had been right about the basic lies the army had been told, right about why they had left me alone until I attacked.

I was so deep in thought I almost missed where the conversation had moved too, not until Jane said

"Felix,"

I looked up as Felix's gaze turned to Bree

"NO!" I said loudly, starting to move back towards Bree, but Edward stepped in front of me, Emmett moved as well, so he was at my side, and I knew that look, he was ready to restrain me if he had to.

"Wait," Edward said and I quickly looked at my brother… "We could explain the rules to the young one. She doesn't seem unwilling to learn. She didn't know what she was doing,"

I could hear the strain in his voice, the desperation. Was this for me, was Edward fighting this hard for me?

I looked at my family, they had closed ranks around Bree, as if they were protecting her too.

Jane glared at Edward, un-phased by his words

"Of course," Carlisle added firmly "we would be prepared to take responsibility for her."

Jane laughed loudly

"We typically don't make exceptions," she said "and we certainly do not give second chances. It is really bad for our reputation." She explained pausing looking at me carefully, "though…this is rather interesting" then she looked at Bella "which reminds me, Caius will be so interested to hear that you're still human, Bella. Perhaps he'll decide to visit."

"The date is set," Alice explained "perhaps we'll come to visit you in a few months."

Jane nodded, accepting that, she seemed to turn, as if they were preparing to leave.

Then she looked at me again, and I felt death wash over me, the look in her eyes, the evil look that had frightened me the first time Jane and I met…when I realized just how much of her humanity was gone…oh bloody hell no…

Her smile widened

"Take care of that Felix." She said, "I want to go home."

"NO!" I shouted

"our laws are clear Christian, you know that." Jane replied, nodding at Felix sending him towards Bree.

"No, Jane…listen to me!" I yelled. I started to run towards Bree, but Emmett had anticipated this, he held me tight, his large arms wrapped securely around my thin chest. "She can be taught…she's not a danger, Please!"

"She violated our laws Christian, just by existing she violates our laws." Jane said, her voice cold and uncaring. Her eyes on the other hand I could see the hatred and the satisfaction fighting for first place. She was happy to be causing such pain, to see me withering around, to her this was better than any pain or torment she could inflict on me.

She was fully prepared to watch and enjoy me groveling and begging. Normally I wouldn't give her the satisfaction, but if I could save Bree's life I would do whatever I had to…

"No!" I exclaimed, struggling to get out of Emmett's grasp, I could feel Jasper trying to calm me with his abilities, but I ignored it and more importantly I fought it. "No Jane, she was an innocent victim! The one who is at fault, who did violate our laws, she has already been destroyed along with her right hand! It was Victoria that instigated the killings in Seattle; this girl was an innocent bystander who was forced to join this fight! She was drafted without consent!"

"Regardless," Jane replied, her eyes narrowing. "No one is above the laws, she may be a newborn, but she still has a mind. It was her choice to be a part of the army, she could have walked away."

"They couldn't!" Edward spoke up "none of them had a choice in the matter. They were all promised their lives back if they cooperated. And they were terrified into submission, told lies to keep them in check."

Jane's eyes narrowed at Edward, before she looked at Bree, she seemed to hesitate on her earlier order.

"Is that true?" she asked Bree. I could see it on Bree's face, she knew she was in danger and that she had to choose her words carefully.

Unfortunately she had decided that after the first attack, it was better to not speak at all…this lasted a second as she screamed in agony as Jane began her invisible assault.

Bree's screams hit me like a brick and I pulled and struggled to get away from Emmett more than before, trying to get to Bree. I felt if I could just get to Bree, get my arms around her, I could protect her, I alone could stop the Volturi's goon squad, what the hell was my mind thinking?

"You do not have to do that! She'll tell you it's true! You're scaring her into silence!" Esme called and Jane laughed at that, she looked over at me and saw the pain on my own face, which seemed to amuse her more than torturing Bree had.

"I've had enough of this toy!" Jane commanded and Felix moved closer to Bree, I knew I had to do something, anything to protect her.

But Emmett is stronger than I am, no matter what I will never be stronger than my brother. I couldn't get loose he wouldn't let me go and believe me I tried like hell.

"Jane leave her be! Take me!"

Esme and Carlisle shot a look at me,

"Christian!" Esme cried "no!"

I knew what I was saying, I knew what I was doing, but I didn't care.

"I'll go back to Volterra with you! I'll join the guard! One year for every person Bree herself has killed! And Aro himself can confirm how many! Killed not drank from!" I specified.

I knew if I wasn't specific, Jane would warp my words, morph them so that every person who had died either directly or indirectly because of Bree would be counted just to keep me with the guard for as long as possible.

I knew Bree had killed and she had certainly drank, but I could see that the numbers for the latter were higher than the first.

Now Felix seemed hesitant, he glanced at Jane both knowing what I have known for decades, this was what Aro had dreamed of, the chance to get me or Alice, or Edward especially all three to join the guard, and now here was Jane's chance to not only be number one in Aro's eyes for bringing me willingly to the Volturi, but her one chance to convince me of our connection to one another.

"Christian," Esme pleaded, she reached over and grabbed my arm, but I ignored it…I ignored my mother's touch, what the hell was wrong with me, what was I doing?

"Do you hear me Jane? I swear, you let Bree stay with my family and I will go back with you tonight to Volterra."

I could see Jane considering this. She looked at Felix and slowly walked over to me, I felt Emmett's grip tighten, but I stayed still, my blue eyes and her red ones staring into each other.

Jane was barely two inches from me, she reached up and stroked my cheek, almost lovingly and if I had been blind I wouldn't have guessed it was Jane.

"Oh my little Christian, how foolishly in love you are. But as usual you fail to see what is right in front of you, so aware, yet so blind. She is not the one for you, it is a projection, that is all, not your true happiness." She patted my cheek hard enough that I felt it, but I didn't wince, instead I growled at her and she slapped it harder "be careful my sweet, listen to your family." She paused glaring up at Emmett, before snapping her finger.

It took me a second to realize what that gesture meant. I looked up at Bree and watched as Felix made his way closer to her and I realized instantly what was about to happen.

"No, No! Noooooo!" I screamed at the top of my lungs "leave her alone Felix! You can't!"

I broke away from Emmett, though I'm not sure how, but Rosalie reached out and grabbed me as I ran past, she tried to pull me down to the ground to hold me better.

"Chrissy no," she murmured

"This is unnecessary!" Jasper defended, I could see him standing near Bree "she can be taught!"

Felix made no sign that he even heard Jasper, an order had been given and Felix was the last one to question that order.

I could hear Bella sniffing as she cried into Edward's shoulder, he told her not to watch… but all I focused on was Bree's rapid breathing, the fear at realization she was about to die was pouring off her.

"no bloody bastard let her go!" My shouts were falling on deaf ears and despite that I continued to shout and plead.

Esme and Rosalie held onto me, hugging me close to their bodies. I felt both quivering with sorrow and fear as Esme tried to cover my ears so I wouldn't hear what was about to happen.

Both were practically on top of me, holding me down partially because I was still fighting to get to Bree and partially so they could remind me that they were there for me.

"Chris," Esme said softly "I'm sorry, sweetie I'm so sorry, don't listen, please don't listen."

"No…please, no. Jane no…please stop! I'll do anything, stop!"

I heard Jane laugh at me and at the situation. Esme pulled me closer to her body and Rosalie leaned over me, shielding me.

"Chris…Chris help…I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I heard Bree scream out "no please… I, I didn't mean it. I'm sorry."

"Bree!" I yelled back "please leave her-" I heard Bree's screams cut short. I heard the sickening snapping and breaking of her bones as Felix tore her apart. I heard the cackling and popping as the fire devoured her.

I slumped completely to the ground, my knees buckling out from under me, I was unable to support my weight, Rosalie tried to hold me up, but it was like I had left my body and therefore couldn't control it, dead weight.

"Chris," Rosalie called to me, she lowered herself to the ground with me, holding me close, "oh Chris…I'm so sorry"

"…no…" I murmured "she didn't do…anything…she didn't ask for this…any of it. She was innocent…she was a kid…just a kid…they stole her life…"

I leaned closer to my sister, burying my face in her shirt. Rosalie and I have always been pretty close…but never to this extent… for the first time in my vampire life I felt safer and more at ease with Rosalie holding me than anyone else, but it didn't change the anger, the pain, the numbness that I felt coursing through my body…

Both Esme and Rosalie exchanged a look and stayed on the ground, holding me tight. I could still hear Bella and I could hear Edward trying to comfort her, I could feel Alice moving to stand closer to Jasper as he held her tight.

I felt Carlisle lean down and put a hand on Esme's shoulders, he whispered something to her that I didn't hear…

I don't even know if the Volturi had left at this point…and I frankly I didn't care if they had…I would have my revenge I would find a way, I didn't care how, Jane may have brought me down, but I fully believe in karma, what goes around always comes around. But at this point, I was so numb with emotions I felt physically drained.

I felt an arm under my own, and suddenly I was lifted up, my first instinct usually is to struggle, especially if I know it is Emmett picking me up, but I didn't fight my brother, I didn't even jump.

Emmett was carrying me…not slumped over his shoulder like he does when we're wrestling or goofing. He took my arms and put them around his neck and held me tight…protecting me, cradling me.

"You have him?" I heard Rosalie ask softly

"I've got him." Emmett replied

"let's just get him home." I heard Esme say, her hand slid from my arm as I felt Emmett start running.

Xxx

Okay...like I said please do no pull out the pitch forks and the torches and start trying to burn me at the stake just yet. I have a method to my madness and it ties into the Breaking Dawn fic which will be uploaded next week. I've had this whole thing planned out from the the beginning, Bree was never going to survive I had that planned already and when I read the short story 'The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner' that actually confirmed for me what I was already planning was the right way to go.

You guys have trusted me thus far please continue to trust me and read the next fic I have planned. It is by no means the last of this series I have plans to go into a Post Breaking Dawn world here so again bear with me, that should also be a hint that I do have a plan for Chris that I think you guys will not only be surprised by, but will be happy about at least I hope that is true. I will not spoil what I have in store, at least not here, but if any of you desperately wants to know why I didnt change the book as far as Bree goes then please, feel free to PM me and I'll be happy to explain. I cannot wait into Breaking Dawn's version because of what will be happening, so much is coming you guys are going to be blown away.

But for now, the Eclipse version is over. This was as I said my favorite of all four books, a few of the chapters were some of my most favorite scenes to write and also represented some of my original ideas for this series and Chris himself. I don't know if I truly did my favorite book justice, but I certainly gave it my best.

I want to thank everyone who took the time to favorite this fic, to put it on your alerts, even just reading it...but most importantly I want to thank those of you who reviewed it. Who told me what they liked what they didnt like, how they felt about where the fic was going, who gave me pointers and suggestions, constructive criticism. I am amazed and humbled by how well Chris has been accepted into the Twilight universe, I know most OCs do not get such positive remarks so I appreciate the ones my OC has. I owe a big thank you to all of you reading this, you are extremely important to me. So again, thank you so much.

I hope to see all of you back next week for the premiere of the Breaking Dawn part of the series and I hope you guys trust me enough to stay with me because I know in my heart none of you will be disappointed by the end of the Breaking Dawn version of The Sun Never Sets.


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